I was born in Montreal in 1939, the second son of poor immigrants.

Eight months later, having left Columbia, I was studying physics in a summer program and working in Colorado when I decided to enroll as a graduate student in biophysics.

For our immediate family and relatives, Canada was a land of opportunity.

About seven years later I was given a book about the periodic table of the elements. For the first time I saw the elegance of scientific theory and its predictive power.

I spent eighteen months as a graduate student in physics at Columbia University, waiting unhappily for an opportunity to work in a laboratory and wondering if I should continue in physics.

The RNA World referred to an hypothetical stage in the origin of life on Earth.

Nevertheless, as is a frequent occurrence in science, a general hypothesis was constructed from a few specific instances of a phenomenon.

I should mention that while I was growing up, Einstein was presented as a worthy role model for a young boy who was good at his studies.

My intention was to enroll at McGill University but an unexpected series of events led me to study physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I still have dreams about CBGB's. I still miss the place.

American culture is torn between our long romance with violence and our terror of the devastation wrought by war and crime and environmental havoc.

The value of achievement lies in the achieving.

I said, "I do not fear those pants with nobody inside them." I said, and said, and said those words. I said them but I lied them.

Being is not only beyond but also deep within every form as its innermost invisible and indestructible essence. This means that it is accessible to you now as your own deepest self, your true nature.

"Pay him what was promised", said the caliph. "And put out his eyes."

The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.

Children who can barely say maa, pappa, are saying Ab ki baar Modi sarkar. This is the power of democracy.

I love getting out on the streets and helping people.

Commerce is no other than the traffic of two individuals, multiplied on a scale of number; and, by the same rule that Nature intended the intercourse of two, she intended that of all!