No one may have the guts to say this, but if we could make better human beings by knowing how to add genes, why shouldn't we?
James D. WatsonRead
If you go into science, I think you better go in with a dream that maybe you, too, will get a Nobel Prize. It's not that I went in and I thought I was very bright and I was going to get one, but I'll confess, you know, I knew what it was.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Pursuing science should be driven by passion and ambition, including the aspiration for great achievements.
James D. Watson emphasizes the importance of having dreams and ambitions in the field of science. He suggests that while one may not always expect to achieve great accolades such as a Nobel Prize, having such aspirations can drive a scientist's motivation and passion for their work.
Themes
ScienceDreamNobel PrizeAmbitionMotivation
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to inspire new scientists.
More from James D. Watson
All quotes →I think the reason people are dealing with science less well now than 50 years ago is that it has become so complicated.
James D. WatsonRead
Polls consistently show that the majority of Americans favour research using embryonic stem cells and yet politicians continue to pander to the outspoken religious minority that is hampering efforts to develop this potentially valuable technology.
James D. WatsonRead
DNA was my only gold rush. I regarded DNA as worth a gold rush.
James D. WatsonRead
Science has always been my preoccupation and when you think a breakthrough is possible, it is terribly exciting.
James D. WatsonRead
Take young researchers, put them together in virtual seclusion, give them an unprecedented degree of freedom and turn up the pressure by fostering competitiveness.
James D. WatsonRead
Similar quotes
I dreamed of becoming a scientist, in general, and a paleontologist, in particular, ever since the Tyrannosaurus skeleton awed and scared me.
Stephen Jay GouldRead
Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come . . . . Our universe is a sorry little affair unless it has in it something for every age to investigate.
Seneca The YoungerRead
When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on Earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand the data.
Paul HawkenRead
...great difficulties are felt at first and these cannot be overcome except by starting from experiments .. and then be conceiving certain hypotheses ... But even so, very much hard work remains to be done and one needs not only great perspicacity but often a degree of good fortune.
Christiaan HuygensRead
I've always been very one-sided about science, and when I was younger, I concentrated almost all my effort on it.
Richard P. FeynmanRead
Creationist critics often charge that evolution cannot be tested, and therefore cannot be viewed as a properly scientific subject at all. This claim is rhetorical nonsense.
Stephen Jay GouldRead