Neil deGrasse
Neil deGrasse
life-changing thinking perspective
So not enough people in this world, I think, carry a cosmic perspective with them. It could be life-changing.
perspective people community
You will never find people who truly grasp the cosmic perspective such as the entire community of astrophysicists leading nations into battle. No, that doesn't happen. When you have a cosmic perspective, there's this little speck called Earth and you say you're going to do what? You're on this side of a line in the sand and you want to kill people for what?
civilization dumb aliens
I'd like - inviting aliens and have them observe what we do because so much of what we do that we take for granted will just be weird or extraordinary or just plain dumb when observed by an alien from another civilization.
teacher school different-experiences
Everyone has all different experiences in school. I just know that throughout my life, at no time did any teacher ever point to me and say, hey. He'll go far.
doe feels universe
Any astrophysicist does not feel small looking up at the universe; we feel large.
school getting-high way
The school system is constructed to praise you if you get high grades. And if you get straight A's, you're the one that everyone puts forward, and they prognosticate that the straight-A person is the one most likely to succeed, because that's the way the school system is constructed and conceived.
dog telescopes taught
I knew my interest in the universe and I owned a telescope that I bought with money I earned by walking dogs. 50 cents per walk, per dog, and that accumulated quickly. I bought a camera, a telescope. I taught myself astrophotography. I did all this.
exploration scientist discovering
Exploration is what you do when you don't know what you're doing. That's what scientists do every day. If a scientist already knew what they were doing, they wouldn't be discovering anything, because they already knew what they were doing.
book parrots wells
What are we promoting in society? Well-behaved automatons that spew back what they learned in a book. That's not science. You can get a parrot to do that.
teacher stars community
Science is a cooperative enterprise spanning the generations. It's the passing of a torch from teacher to student to teacher. A community of minds, reaching back to antiquity and forward to the stars.
problem easy solve
If you seek only easy problems to solve, then ultimately, there'll be nothing about you to distinguish yourself from others.
risk proud boundaries
I am proud to be part of a species where a subset of its members willingly put their lives at risk to push the boundaries of our existence.
offering body flora
I'd rather enjoy the money, and then be buried, offering my body back to the flora and fauna of which I have dined my whole life.
self driven greater
There is no greater education than one that is self-driven.