Quotessence
Home / Authors / Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllWorldKnowsPeopleIfsScienceHumansThinkingJurassic ParkBeliefMayWayBelieveConsensusMenWantAnimalFearScientistLifeLiterature

Famous Michael Crichton Quotes

“Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.”

WayFirstsHas BeensMatterScientistClaimsAgreeDebateBrokeRefugeConsensusWalletsScoundrels
Author:Michael Crichton
Create image

“Let's be clear: all professions look bad in the movies. And there's a good reason for this. Movies don't portray career paths, they conscript interesting lifestyles to serve a plot. So lawyers are all unscrupulous and doctors are all uncaring. Psychiatrists are all crazy, and politicians are all corrupt. All cops are psychopaths, and all businessmen are crooks. Even moviemakers come off badly: directors are megalomaniacs, actors are spoiled brats. Since all occupations are portrayed negatively, why expect scientists to be treated differently?”

LooksReasonActorsInterestingCareersPathClearCrazyPoliticianDirectorsDoctorsScientistProfessionLawyerLifestyleTreatedPlotOccupationCopBusinessmanPsychiatristSpoiledPsychopathCrooksCareer PathBratUncaringInteresting LifeMegalomaniacsSpoiled Brat
Author:Michael Crichton
Create image

“...scientific power is like inherited wealth: attained without discipline. You read what others have done, and you take the next step. You can do it very young...there is no mastery, old scientists are ignored. There is no humility before nature...Its a form of inherited wealth. And you know what assholes congenitally rich people are.”

PeopleKnowsDoneFormYoungNextCan DoWealthStepsHistoryRichHumilityDisciplineScientistMasteryIgnoredYou Can Do ItRich PeopleNext StepsInherited Wealth
Author:Michael Crichton
Create image

“She had been living like a hermit herself, in a cramped, seedy apartment in Somerville, spending long hours in the lab. All-nighters had become a regular thing. She didn't have any close friends, didn't go out on dates, didn't even go to the movies by herself. She had sacrificed a normal life in order to get a PhD, and become a scientist.”

LongOrderHoursNormalScientistSpendingApartmentLabsNormal LifeClose FriendsHermitsLong HoursPhdsAll Nighters
Author:Michael Crichton
Create image

“The work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.”

WorldMeanRealHappensPoliticalPoliticsResultsScientistContraryBrokeReal WorldRelevantIrrelevantConsensusInvestigators
Author:Michael Crichton
Create image