James D. Watson quotes - page 2

The issue, rather, is this: Are we prepared to embrace the undeniably vast potential of genetics to improve the human condition, individually and collectively? Most immediate, would we want the guidance of genetic information to design learning best suited to our children's individual needs? (James D. Watson)
Life, we now know, is nothing but a vast array of coordinated chemical reactions. The "secret” to that coordination is the breathtakingly complex set of instructions inscribed-again, chemically-in our DNA. View quote
James D. Watson
The tendency is to focus on the worst-case scenario and to shy away from potentially controversial science; it is time, I think, we looked instead at the benefits. View quote
James D. Watson
The law has always had difficulty assimilating the implications, if not the very idea, of scientific evidence. Even the most intelligent lawyers, judges, and juries have customarily found it difficult to understand at first. View quote
James D. Watson
This remarkable feat merely reaffirms what most of us in molecular biology have long known to be the truth: the essence of life is complicated chemistry and nothing more. View quote
James D. Watson
Sure enough, the notion of decoding their personal DNA appealed to more than a few well-off individuals, even if it amounted to the scientific equivalent of purchasing a vanity license plate. View quote
James D. Watson
To succeed in science, you have to avoid dumb people. View quote
James D. Watson
Never do anything that bores you. View quote
James D. Watson
I want to see cancer cured in my lifetime. It might be. View quote
James D. Watson
We're not all equal, it's simply not true. That isn't science. View quote
James D. Watson
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. Watson)
As an educator, I have always striven to see that the fruits of the American Dream are available to all. View quote
James D. Watson
The pace of discovery is going unbelievably fast. View quote
James D. Watson
I wish there would be more movies about scientists. View quote
James D. Watson
I wanted to see if I could write a good book. View quote
James D. Watson
Some think there is something wrong about enhancing people. View quote
James D. Watson
New ideas require new facts. You explain things by way of ideas. Why do we have a government that is run by rich trash? Because they've used their money to buy the presidency. Bush is a tool for the people who don't want an inheritance tax. View quote
James D. Watson
I've seen no evidence of a god, so I'm not going to think about one. Being raised nonreligious made you free. You could look at the evidence. Whether being nonreligious or a Democrat was more important, I can't tell you. View quote
James D. Watson
Right now, at my institute in the US we are working on gene-caused failures in brain development that frequently lead to autism and schizophrenia. We may also find that differences in these respective brain development genes also lead to differences in our abilities to carry out different mental tasks. In some cases, how these genes function may help us to understand variations in IQ, or why some people excel at poetry but are terrible at mathematics. All too often people with high mathematical abilities have autistic traits. The same gene that gives some people such great mathematical abilities may also lead to autistic behaviour. This is why, in studying autism and schizophrenia, we believe that we shall come very close to a better understanding of intelligence and, therefore, of the differences in intelligence. View quote
James D. Watson
You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient. View quote
James D. Watson
Never postpone experiments that have clearly defined future benefits for fear of dangers that can't be quantified. Though it may sound at first uncaring, we can react rationally only to real (as opposed to hypothetical) risks. (James D. Watson)
It's necessary to be slightly underemployed if you are to do something significant. View quote
James D. Watson
Nothing new that is really interesting comes without collaboration. View quote
James D. Watson
The way to do great science is to stay away from subjects that are overpopulated, and go to the frontiers. View quote
James D. Watson
I never dreamed that in my lifetime my own genome would be sequenced. View quote
James D. Watson