Jonas Salk

good ancestors

“Are we being good ancestors?”

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

hope dreams imagination courage reality

“There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.”

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

failure persistence

“There is no such thing as failure, there's just giving up too soon.”

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

patent vaccine people sun

“Who owns the patent on this vaccine?'

'Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

bad correct error-correcting

“When things get bad enough, then something happens to correct the course. And it's for that reason that I speak about evolution as an error-making and an error-correcting process. And if we can be ever so much better - ever so much slightly better - at error correcting than at error making, then we'll make it.”

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

intuition mind next

“Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.”

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

insects disappear earth 50 years life end human flourish

"If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

evolution question answer pre-rxist discover reveal

"Solutions come through evolution. They come through asking the right questions, because the answers pre-exist. It is the questions that we must define and discover. You don't invent the answer-you reveal the answer."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

parent roots wings home fly exercise

"Good parents give their children Roots and Wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what's been taught them."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

question answer find reveal

"Find the right questions. You don't invent the answers, you reveal the answers."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

world knowledge wisdom

"I think of the need for more wisdom in the world, to deal with the knowledge that we have. At one time we had wisdom, but little knowledge. Now we have a great deal of knowledge, but do we have enough wisdom to deal with that knowledge?"

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

moment discovery question

"What people think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

life error-making error-correcting

"Life is an error-making and an error-correcting process."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

destroy ecosystem ourselves realize

"Eventually we'll realize that if we destroy the ecosystem, we destroy ourselves."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

epidemic health self-organizing self-propelling

"It is possible to create an epidemic of health which is self-organizing and self-propelling."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

insects disappear life perish human flourish

"If all insects disappeared, all life on earth would perish. If all humans disappeared, all life on earth would flourish."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

wisdom deficit fewer elder listen

"A wisdom deficit - fewer elders and even fewer people who listen to them."

― Jonas Salk (1914-1995)