The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature.

It is from the progeny of this parent cell that we all take our looks; we still share genes around, and the resemblance of the enzymes of grasses to those of whales is in fact a family resemblance.

The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music.

Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise.

In real life, every field of science is incomplete, and most of them - whatever the record of accomplishment during the last 200 years - are still in their very earliest stages.

We owe our lives to the sun... How is it, then, that we feel no gratitude?

The greatest single achievement of nature to date was surely the invention of the molecule DNA.

It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by the act of learning all the way.

I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.

Animals have genes for altruism, and those genes have been selected in the evolution of many creatures because of the advantage they confer for the continuing survival of the species.

We leave traces of ourselves wherever we go, on whatever we touch.

A single lie is the father of all lies

I’m looking to make a miracle

Having a Mary Poppins-themed birthday party when I was 5 - all my friends went in dresses, and I went as a chimney sweep. I was a real tomboy.

Lies like that are not a sin, they are a sacrifice.

He's a very strange guy, my father. I can't get mad at him because he's so adorable.

I feel like the Church should have the most amazing entertainment and the best music, because we know the author and the source of music and entertainment, which is our Father.

O, from the ancient days always there have been travelers. So why should I grieve?

If I do not understand myself, the whole complexity of myself, I have no basis for thinking.

If I lost weight, I'd be two-dimensional!

So what really works? Treatments in jail do some good, but it's mostly too late: finding a family and a job or just growing older make most prisoners eventually give up crime.