Quotessence
Home / Authors / Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes

Astrophysicist

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsPeopleUniverseScienceThinkingEarthKnowsWorldSpaceWant

Famous Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes

“When I wrestled, I would set aside the time to wrestle, so that in my mind it didn't interfere with my study time. If I'd say, "I'm going to study this many hours, then I'm going to go work out and wrestle," then when that time comes, you don't feel like you should be doing something else. That helped me psychologically. But otherwise? When I'm wrestling, I'm not studying the universe. And when I'm studying the universe, I'm not wrestling.”

IfsFeelsShouldMindUniverseHoursStudyLike YouWork OutWrestlingInterfere
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“I can tell you that in my modern life I enjoy language. I enjoy words, their meaning, what they sound like to the ear, what they sound like to the listener. I strive to write the perfect sentence in all that I do, and when I write [the] perfect sentence I know it. If I had a second life I'd be a librettist for Broadway musicals.”

IfsKnowsWritingI CanLanguageEnjoySoundPerfectModernEarsStriveSentencesListenersBroadwayModern LifeBroadway Musical
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“There are two kinds of comments that I get. One is, oh, you're such a natural up there, and the other one is, you're working hard up there. And the ones who say I'm working hard are teachers, they're the educators; they're the people who are the performers. It's a huge investment of my psycho-emotional energy to pull that off and to make it look smooth.”

PeopleLooksKindTwoHardEnergyNaturalTeacherEmotionalHugeInvestmentCommentPerformersSmoothEducatorPsychoEmotional Energy
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“Curiosity is unknown. All adults were once kids and once curious, but as adults you don't remember that and you see curiosity when it's expressed in children as a pathway to household disaster. They're simply exploring their environment, manifesting their curiosity. So what you need to do is create an environment where curiosity is rewarded rather than punished, or thwarted.”

NeedsChildrenKidsRememberEnvironmentAdultsCuriosityDisasterCuriousManifestHouseholdExploringPathways
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“If NASA were advancing a space frontier there would be challenges you've never seen before. You have to be creative and you have to patent some new idea. You get to Mars...well, how do we get the water from the soil? I gotta invent a new device that will do that. And the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, how can we use that? Can we breathe the oxygen from the carbon dioxide?”

IfsWellsIdeasUseWould BeWaterChallengesSpaceCreativeBreatheAtmosphereSoilDevicesNew IdeasMarsCarbonBe CreativeOxygenFrontiersAdvancingNasaPatentsCarbon Dioxide
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“People say, oh we just need charismatic leaders to continue on to Mars. Now we've gone to the moon, of course Mars is next. No. Mars was never, of course, next. It is next if you think we went to the moon because we're explorers, but if you know we went to the moon because we were at war then we're never going to Mars. There's no military reason to do it, to justify the expenditure.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsNeedsWarReasonCoursesNextLeaderGoneMilitaryMoonJustifyMarsExplorersExpendituresCharismatic
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“When NASA makes discoveries they are profound and they make headlines, everyone takes notice. It drives dialogue and, today, it would drive the blogosphere. It would drive the projects the kids do in school. So you wouldn't even need programs to try and stimulate curiosity. You wouldn't need programs to try to convince people that science literacy is good. Because they're going to want to participate on this epic adventure that we call space exploration.”

PeopleWantNeedsTryingKidsTodaySchoolSpaceAdventureProjectsDiscoveryProgramProfoundCuriosityDialogueConvinceExplorationEpicLiteracyHeadlinesSpace ExplorationNasaScience Literacy
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“These are two different exercises. One of them is, "You don't know and I know, so just shut up and listen," and the other one is, you're curious and you're learning, and I have a way where you can learn this so you'll know it as well. And when you know it, and know why you know it, then you don't have to reference me ever again because you take ownership of the knowledge, and you can then share it with someone else.”

DifferentShareExerciseCuriousOwnershipShut Up
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“Americans live in a free country, which allows you to believe what you want. Because you think that something is true does not require that it is objectively true. The value of science concerning itself with objective truths is that we can make decisions and statements that affect everyone, which is why legislation really should be based on objective truths, not what is going on in your head.”

ThinkingBelieveCountryValuesDecisionTruth Is
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“I was raised Catholic. But if someone says I was raised in some religion, that's insufficient information to actually know what was going on. The real question is Was the religion in the household? The answer is no. Important decisions in the household were executed rationally and secularly. So as a result, the foundations of my reasoning derive not from religion but from the rational analysis of circumstances.”

ImportantRealDecisionCircumstancesCatholicRational
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“I have a very high respect for professional comedians. What they do astonishes me. You have to be really smart and absorb everything, repackage it, bring it back to the person, and make them laugh at themselves. I can make people laugh during my talks because they didn't come to have me make them laugh. It's added value. So my job is way easier than that of a professional comic.”

PeopleValuesLaughingSmartComicComedianMaking People LaughReally Smart
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image

“Many people are unhappy because there was some point in their past where there was some glory day, and as they get older they're not creating more glory days. They reflect on a time that they will never reach again, and it brings some level of dissatisfaction into their lives. I have circumvented that by simply making incumbent upon myself to always be productive in ways that are consistent with my physical body, my mental state of knowledge, but more important, my presumed growth in wisdom that would come with age.”

PeopleImportantAgePastGrowthGloryUnhappyConsistentProductiveDissatisfaction
Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
Create image