Nathan Myhrvold quotes - page 4

A person's basic humanity is not governed by how he or she came into this world, or whether somebody else happens to have the same DNA. (Nathan Myhrvold)
Technological 'revolutions' don't really overthrow anything - they simply append a new and dynamic market to that which went before. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Three things about water affect almost all of cooking. First are the hydrogen bonds, which is why it has an incredibly high boiling point. Another is that it's a polar molecule, so that it dissolves a lot of things, and there are things that won't mix with it. And then there's how much energy it takes to heat water. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
It is better to predict dramatic things that don't happen than boring things that do. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
It's impossible that we're alone in the universe. Every time we think we're more special than others, we're proven wrong. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
One of the things that I love to do is travel around the world and look at archaeological sites. Because archaeology gives us an opportunity to study past civilizations, and see where they succeeded and where they failed. Use science to, you know, work backwards and say, 'Well, really, what were they thinking?' View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Our reactor actually burns nuclear waste as fuel. So not only is it safe and powerful, it solves an important issue: It actually reduces nuclear waste instead of creating. It's the reactor of your dreams. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Some article called me the most feared man in Silicon Valley. Good Lord! Why? My teenage boys got a kick out of it: 'Dad, how could this be true? You're not even the most feared person in this house.' View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
The magic words 'on the Internet,' if inserted into nearly any sentence, seem to protect it from normal critical scrutiny. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Politicians don't like to face unpleasant realities. In truth, nobody does, but as individuals, we have no choice; if we neglect to plan ahead, we are held accountable. Fail to meet your responsibilities at work, and you get fired. Ignore your car's gas gauge, and you get stranded. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Why pay a fee for Internet content when a million free sites are just a click away? There's no incentive until people are too addicted to the Net to turn off their computers, yet are bored with what's available. (Nathan Myhrvold)
With cult foods, there is an underlying assumption that the best cooking ideas came generations ago. Yet culinary innovation is nothing to be ashamed of. When a chef tells me he is cooking with his grandmother's recipe, I always wonder why. Did talent skip the past two generations? View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Don't let the secret recipe die with the inventor. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Most visions of extraterrestrial life are actually steeped in human hubris. The fictional extraterrestrials of 'Star Trek' or a hundred other space operas are less alien than many of my neighbors. And funny, the ones running the place are mostly WASPish men. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
A blowtorch is a wonderful thing. You can get one of those for about 25 bucks at Home Depot. And there's a ton of things that you can use a blowtorch for, in browning a steak or touching up the browning of a chicken or making creme brulee. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
If people don't get paid for their inventions, that's not a good thing. In the case of many patents, there are people who aren't in a position to take them to the next level. If you don't enforce your rights, no one is going to enforce them for you. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
If I say I've got two versions of Word - that old one from 1982 that's perfect, with zero defects; or the new one that's got all this cool new stuff, but there might be a few bugs in it - people always want the new one. But I wouldn't want them to operate a plane I was on with software that happened to be the latest greatest release! View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
I have a very pragmatic approach to diets. Ones you can't stick to don't do you any good. Some people say, 'Just eat half of what's on your plate,' but I can't do that! View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
No CEO ever says, 'Damnit, we need to increase research!' I want to encourage them to do that. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
The idea behind a dish - the delight and the surprise - makes a difference. Great literature surprises and delights, and provokes us. It isn't just 'Here's the facts - boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.' It's how you tell it. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold
Efficiency in government is a more elusive concept than efficiency in the private economy, which may be measured relatively easily as output per units of input. What is the government's 'output?' (Nathan Myhrvold)
Regardless of how it's done, transaction costs will continue to plummet as computers get more powerful. Low transaction costs are a wonderful thing if you're in the transaction business. They're wonderful for consumers too, making it cheaper and easier to buy things and creating new things to buy. View quote
Nathan Myhrvold