I did get a very fine education, and not just in science. It took some pressure on the part of my elders to convince me that I really should take an interest in humanities.

By the time I was 12 or 13, I was studying biochemistry textbooks.

The single biggest threat to man's continued dominance on the planet is the virus.

I get curious about new things. My real strength is going into a field that has not been investigated before, and finding new approaches to it.

All of civility depends on being able to contain the rage of individuals.

I have many shortcomings. I feel very lucky to have been able to have what I've had.

Try hard to find out what you're good at and what your passions are, and where the two converge, and build your life around that.

If we have isolated individuals able to inflict enormous harm, imagine what a single lunatic can do with a nuclear weapon. I think the whole base of civil society is at risk.

If it takes you 20 or 25 years to establish yourself in one field, you really ought to be careful not to stray too far.

I certainly saw science as a kind of calling, and one with as much legitimacy as a religious calling.

I'd like to put in a vote for the intrinsic fascination of science.

She was wrapped in my jacket, almost swallowed by it. You never realize how small a woman is until she wears your clothes.

I was not sorry for loving Charleston or for leaving it. Geography had made me who I was.

The firmest friendships have been formed in mutual adversity as iron is most strongly united by the fiercest flame.

I mean, if you asked me what I’m going to be doing when I’m 85, I’d make a quick picture in my mind and, well, I’ll be singing.

Everything I do is going to be gangsta rap, street based, street oriented... I'm from Gary, Indiana, and everybody's damn near at the poverty level.

On the road, I weigh 168. At home, ten more.

For me, being raised in a free America made all the difference.

We do not choose love. It claims each man as it will.

The main piece of technology in the green economy is a caulk gun.

The problem with property is that it takes so much of your time.