“One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that , in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.”
― James D. Watson, quote from The Double Helix
“In the end, though, science is what matters; scientists not a bit.”
― James D. Watson, quote from The Double Helix
“On the other hand, the sun of Naples might be conducive to learning something about the biochemistry of the embryonic development of marine animals.”
― James D. Watson, quote from The Double Helix
“Briefly, the Indiana biochemists encouraged me to learn organic chemistry, but after I used a bunsen burner to warm up some benzene, I was relieved from further true chemistry. It was safer to turn out an uneducated Ph.D. than to risk another explosion.”
― James D. Watson, quote from The Double Helix
“Al Hershey had sent me a long letter from Cold Spring Harbor summarizing the recently completed experiments by which he and Martha Chase established that a key feature of the infection of a bacterium by a phage was the injection of the viral DNA into the host bacterium. Most important, very little protein entered the bacterium. Their experiment was thus a powerful new proof that DNA is the primary genetic material. Nonetheless, almost no one in the audience of over four hundred microbiologists seemed interested as I read long sections of Hershey’s letter. Obvious exceptions were André Lwoff, Seymour Benzer, and Gunther Stent, all briefly over from Paris. They knew that Hershey’s experiments were not trivial and that from then on everyone was going to place more emphasis on DNA. To most of the spectators, however, Hershey’s name carried no weight.”
― James D. Watson, quote from The Double Helix
“Worrying about complications before ruling out the possibility that the answer was simple would have been damned foolishness.”
― James D. Watson, quote from The Double Helix
James D. Watson
Born place: in Chicago, The United States
Born date April 6, 1928
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“for there is no cure for love save love itself. That is the verdict of all the wise doctors who have ever practiced since the earliest times.”
― Frans G. Bengtsson, quote from The Long Ships
“Ah, what sights and sounds and pain lie beneath that mist. And we had thought that our hard climb out of that cruel valley led to some cool, green and peaceful, sunlit place---but it's all jungle here, a wild and savage wilderness that's overrun with ruins. But put on your crown, my Queen, and we will build a New City on these ruins.”
― Eldridge Cleaver, quote from Soul on Ice
“I’m pretty certain my worthless heart shatters inside my chest, and she steals one of the pieces. If it didn’t already belong to someone else I probably would have handed her all the pieces right then and there.”
― Jessica Sorensen, quote from Breaking Nova
“What?” Ann asked.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“I know. You’re just standing there staring. What are you thinking?”
“I was wondering if you loved me.”
She smiled at the mirror, the magical world between the two swans. Amrath imagined it was a beautiful place, a pretty country where troubles never found entry.
“I bore you two wonderful children.” She kissed the crown of Arista’s head.
“That was your duty as queen, but do—”
“Really?” She paused with the brush still holding on to a few strands of Arista’s hair to look at him. “A duty? Is that how you found it?”
“Not for my part—of course not.”
She returned to the mirror and the brushing. “Then why would you think I saw it that way? Did I appear to be suffering? Do I now? It’s such a hardship being your wife. Perhaps you should summon the guard to whip me, lest I stop brushing my daughter’s hair.”
Arista laughed and covered her face with her hands.
Amrath scowled at her. “I could have sworn we had a dozen servants whose job it is to see to Arista’s grooming.”
“There, you see? What more proof do you need? I do this because I want to.”
“That just proves you love your children.”
“Actually it just proves you love me,” Arista whispered.
Ann gave her a gentle slap on the head that caused her to giggle again. “Quiet, you.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, quote from The Rose and the Thorn
“As in life, I know only what is, and in death what is turns out to be what was. You”
― Philip Roth, quote from Indignation
Truth and Beauty
Manhunting
The Beatrice Letters
The Last Season
Lavinia
The Steel WaveBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
