BARBARA MCCLINTOCK QUOTES

“I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.”

“If you know you’re on the right track, if you have this inner knowledge, then nobody can turn you off… no matter what they say.”

“It’s never too late to become what you might have been.”

“Biology is the science. I’m interested in the why and the how.”

“Finding new life means discovering its secrets, which may sometimes be destructive.”

“I’m not quite sure what makes one individual able to follow an idea steadily and not drop it, while another can’t. An exaggerated respect for evidence seems to me to be one answer.”

“With every mistake, we must surely be learning.”

“I felt that to have a child with love was one thing and to bring up a child with it was another.”

“Adversity is the springboard of progress.”

“Heredity is really just repetition; it repeats things generation after generation.”

“The important thing is never to stop questioning.”

“What makes me optimistic about the future of genome research is that we now have for the first time the tools to understand how our genome is regulated.”

“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.”

“When you’re alone with the truth, you have nothing to fear.”

“The likelihood that a chromosome will break at any one spot is proportional to the amount of DNA present at that spot.”

“All districts not platypus have used its fertilized eggs to kill inculcating tiny fish embryos.”

“One needs to understand the organism before understanding the genes.”

“Understanding of biological systems is quite possible without understanding of individual genes.”

“You have to have patience with science. You can’t control science. You just build on it.”

“I never thought I was any good. I just had faith in what I was doing.”

“The genome is not only a product of evolution; it tells us how to understand the mechanics of life.”

“Geneticists have much in common with computer geeks.”

“Any of us can be interested in something and not a spearhead in terms of leadership. It’s very important to have collective leadership.”

“Genetics is only one part of explaining how an organism develops, its life, and what it passes on to the next generation.”

“The only safety in the lab is in harmony with what you’re trying to do.”

“Science is the foundation for all understanding of the world.”

“Chance favors the prepared mind.”

“You have to do what you love to make a good job.”

“Life is not logical but predictable with repetition.”

“To some extent, we know that all the knowledge we have accumulated will be used by those who come after us. It is quite important to have an understanding of the process.”