George Wald quotes

George Wald was an American scientist and biologist, celebrated for his research on vision and the physiology of the eye. His work led to major discoveries about how light is absorbed by the retina. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his contributions. Here are 40 of his quotes:

Dropping those atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime. (George Wald)
Since we have had a history, men have pursued an ideal of immortality. View quote
George Wald
A lecture is much more of a dialogue than many of you probably realize. View quote
George Wald
A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms. View quote
George Wald
It would be a poor thing to be an atom in a universe without physicists, and physicists are made of atoms. A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms. View quote
George Wald
I have lived much of my life among molecules. They are good company. View quote
George Wald
Nuclear weapons offer us nothing but a balance of terror, and a balance of terror is still terror. View quote
George Wald
I tell my students to try early in life to find an unattainable objective. View quote
George Wald
There's life all over this universe, but the only life in the solar system is on earth, and in the whole universe we are the only men. View quote
George Wald
Our business is with life, not death. View quote
George Wald
It's not good enough to give it tender, loving care, to supply it with breakfast foods, to buy it expensive educations. Those things don't mean anything unless this generation has a future. And we're not sure that it does. (George Wald)
All War Departments are now Defense Departments. This is all part of the doubletalk of our time. The aggressor is always on the other side. View quote
George Wald
The thought that we're in competition with Russians or with Chinese is all a mistake, and trivial. We are one species, with a world to win. View quote
George Wald
We are the products of editing, rather than of authorship. View quote
George Wald
Science goes from question to question; big questions, and little, tentative answers. The questions as they age grow ever broader, the answers are seen to be more limited. View quote
George Wald
The trouble with most of the things that people want is that they get them. View quote
George Wald
As you lecture, you keep watching the faces, and information keeps coming back to you all the time. View quote
George Wald
The Vietnamese have a secret weapon. It's their willingness to die beyond our willingness to kill. In effect, they've been saying, You can kill us, but you'll have to kill a lot of us; you may have to kill all of us. And, thank heaven, we are not yet ready to do that. View quote
George Wald
I think all of you know there is no adequate defense against massive nuclear attack. View quote
George Wald
I am growing old, and my future, so to speak, is already behind me. View quote
George Wald
The Nobel Prize is an honor unique in the world in having found its way into the hearts and minds of simple people everywhere. It casts a light of peace and reason upon us all; and for that I am especially grateful. (George Wald)
A scientist is in a sense a learned small boy. There is something of the scientist in every small boy. Others must outgrow it. Scientists can stay that way all their lives. View quote
George Wald
We have to get rid of those nuclear weapons. View quote
George Wald
A peacetime draft is the most un-American thing I know. View quote
George Wald
The concept of war crimes is an American invention. View quote
George Wald

George Wald

George Wald - Image
Occupation: American Scientist
Born: November 18, 1906
Died: April 12, 1997
Quotes count: 40