Neil deGrasse Tyson
philosophy know world lessen suffering
“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
connected biologically earth chemically universe atomically
“We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
child life walk talk shut up sit down wrong
“We spend the first year of a child's life teaching it to walk and talk and the rest of its life to shut up and sit down. There's something wrong there.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
time congratulate people success encourage failure
“Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
shame not knowing ignorance irrational thought behavior
“... there is no shame in not knowing. The problem arises when irrational thought and attendant behavior fill the vacuum left by ignorance.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
god pocket ignorance
“God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
kids problem scientist curiosity
“Kids are never the problem. They are born scientists. The problem is always the adults. They beat the curiosity out of kids. They outnumber kids. They vote. They wield resources. That's why my public focus is primarily adults.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
atom molecule dna star galaxy universe
“There’s as many atoms in a single molecule of your DNA as there are stars in the typical galaxy. We are, each of us, a little universe.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
life universe knowing origin important going goal
“So what is true for life itself is no less true for the universe: knowing where you came from is no less important than knowing where you are going.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
scientific inquiry stop reasonable explanation
“Scientific inquiry shouldn't stop just because a reasonable explanation has apparently been found.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
student cheat school value grade learning
“When students cheat on exams it's because our school system values grades more than students value learning.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
academic pedigree title people believe argument
“If you need to invoke your academic pedigree or job title for people to believe what you say, then you need a better argument.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
doing never done intellectually seductive practical
“Doing what has never been done before is intellectually seductive, whether or not we deem it practical.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
science philosophy discovery intelligent design ignorance
“Science is a philosophy of discovery. Intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
academic system reward people know stuff facts
“Our academic system rewards people who know a lot of stuff and generally we call those people smart, but at the end of the day who do you want- the person who can figure things out that they've never seen before or the person who can rattle off a bunch of facts?”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
science free expression question authority exchange ideas
“Science needs the light of free expression to flourish. It depends on the fearless questioning of authority, and the open exchange of ideas.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
bible passage meek inherit earth geek
“You know that passage in the Bible that says, “And the meek shall inherit the Earth”? Always wondered if that was mistranslated. Perhaps it actually says, “And the geek shall inherit the Earth.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
limit people believe expect door opportunity
“There are no limits when you are surrounded by people who believe in you, or by people whose expectations are not set by the short-sighted attitudes of society, or by people who help to open doors of opportunity, not close them.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
foog genetically modified wild watermelon cow
“Practically every food you buy in a store for consumption by humans is genetically modified food. There are no wild, seedless watermelons. There's no wild cows.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
die spectacular fall black hole
“Without a doubt, the most spectacular way to die in space is to fall into a black hole.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
shame admitting know pretend answer
“There’s no shame in admitting what you don’t know. The only shame is pretending you know all the answers.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
TV aliens conclusion human neurotic dysfunctional idiot
“After 50 years of television, there’s no other conclusion the aliens could draw, but that most humans are neurotic, death-hungry, dysfunctional idiots.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
common chemical element life earth universe us
“The four most common chemically active elements in the universe—hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen—are the four most common elements of life on Earth. We are not simply in the universe. The universe is in us.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
universe on anything itself why
“The universe has never made one of anything, so why would there even be one of itself?”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
place universe kill life die
“Most places in the universe will kill life instantly—instantly! People say “Oh, the forces of nature are just right for life.” Excuse me. Just look at the volume of the universe where you can’t live. You will die instantly.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
attack bush star muslim god arab name
“After the 9/11 attacks, when President George W. Bush, in a speech aimed at distinguishing the U.S. from the Muslim fundamentalists, said, "Our God is the God who named the stars." The problem is two-thirds of all the stars that have names, have Arabic names. I don't think he knew this. This would confound the point that he was making.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
space NASA ballpoint pen US Soviet pencil million dollar
“During the heat of the space race in the 1960s, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ballpoint pen to write in the zero gravity confines of its space capsules. After considerable research and development, the Astronaut Pen was developed at a cost of approximately $1 million US. The pen worked and also enjoyed some modest success as a novelty item back here on earth. The Soviet Union, faced with the same problem, used a pencil.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
human endeavor science religion art wonder mystery
“Each component of this trinity of human endeavor—science, religion, and art—lays powerful claim to our feelings of wonder, which derive from an embrace of the mysterious. Where mystery is absent, there can be no wonder.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
fact fail succeed never
“Curious fact that those who never fail are also those who never truly succeed.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
world accept interpret influence idiot
“If the world is something you accept rather than interpret, then you're susceptible to the influence of charismatic idiots.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson