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Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes

Astrophysicist

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, science communicator, and television personality. Born on October 5, 1958, he is renowned for his deep understanding of the cosmos and his ability to popularize scientific knowledge. Tyson grew up in New York City and earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from Columbia University. He served as the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and has been a member of various scientific committees.

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All Ifs People Universe Science Thinking Earth Knows World Space Want

Famous Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes

“There is a growing awareness that we're losing our technological competitive edge. I think there's an awareness that we're losing our leadership, and that maybe our self image over the past several decades has been a little bit delusional.”

Thinking Littles Has Beens Self Past Bits Growing Awareness Little Bit Losing Edges Decades Technological Over The Past Delusional

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“There are countless space activities that would be no less exciting than the moon missions were, I have no doubt. The search for life on Mars, for example.”

Would Be Space Doubt Example Activity Moon Exciting Missions No Doubt Mars

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“I can't think that leaving Earth once is enough.”

Thinking I Can Enough Earth Leaving

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“I believe that the manned space program can engage the public by advancing the space frontier. Every next mission takes you farther out in space than you were before, either technologically or in terms of distance.”

Believe Next I Believe Term Space Program Distance Missions Frontiers Advancing Space Program

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“My interest in the space program has a certain purity to it because I recognize the romance of it but I was never seduced by it. That allowed me to view it through a more purely scientific lens. My interest in space while in school came about through my scientific activities.”

School Romance Certain Interest Space Views Activity Program Purity Lenses Space Program

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“I agree that we should go back to the moon and on to Mars. We should treat all objects in the solar system, including comets and asteroids, as exploration targets.”

Should Objects Moon Treats Agree Including Target Exploration Mars Solar System Comets Asteroids

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“As important as the civil rights movement was, I think what will rise to the top is that we left Earth in that time.”

Thinking Important Earth Left Rights Movement Civil Rights Civil Rights Movement

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“If aliens did visit us, I'd be embarrassed to tell them we still dig fossil fuels from the ground as a source of energy.”

Ifs Inspirational Stills Motivational Energy Source Aliens Fuel Embarrassed Fossils Fossil Fuel Eco

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Wanna lose 1200 Calories a month? Drink a liter of ice water a day. You burn the energy just raising the water to body temp.”

Inspirational Body Motivational Energy Water Loses Months Drink Ice Fitness Calories Drinking Water Ice Water

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“In this 21st century, bedtime doesn't matter at all. All that matters is what you set for your DVR [Digital Video Recorder].”

Matter Century Video Digital 21st Century Bedtime Recorders

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“when I wrestled, I would set aside the time to wrestle, so that in my mind it didn't interfere with my study time. That helped me psychologically. When I'm wrestling, I'm not studying the universe. And when I'm studying the universe, I'm not wrestling.”

Mind Universe Study Wrestling Interfere

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“When you are a hammer, all of your problems will look like nails to you.”

Looks Problem Nails Hammers

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Don't get in the way of children who find it natural and obvious to explore the world around them - even if it means they make a mess of your kitchen or living room. It's all about your perspective on these things. Let them play. When you do, the kids do not have to be reintroduced to ways of questioning nature, and the task of promoting science would be a trivial exercise.”

Ifs World Way Mean Children Play Would Be Kids Natural Rooms Perspective Exercise Tasks Obvious Mess Kitchen Questioning Promoting Living Room

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Astronauts are the only kind of celebrity I know who can have a line of people waiting for their autograph, even if the line of people does not know in advance the astronaut's name.”

People Ifs Knows Kind Doe Names Waiting Lines Astronaut Autographs

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Scientists are human. We have our blind spots and prejudices. Science is a mechanism designed to ferret them out. Problem is we aren't always faithful to the core values of science.”

Humans Problem Science Religion Values Scientist Prejudice Blind Core Spots Faithful Mechanism Core Values Blind Spots Ferrets

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“The past is another planet.”

Past Science Religion Planets

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“With no gravitational force to work against, your body not only doesn't need the same amount of muscle and bone, it starts breaking them down. As on Earth, so in space: use it or lose it. And exercise may not solve the problem.”

Needs May Use Problem Body Earth Force Loses Space Amount Exercise Solve Bones Your Body Muscles Use It Or Lose It

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“So when I think of, what is the meaning of life, to me, that's not an eternal unanswerable question. To me it is in arms reach of me every day.”

Thinking Arms Eternal Meaning Of Life What Is The Meaning Of Life What Is The Meaning

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“I try to keep this in mind when tied in to a rope 75 feet up in a tree... The history of ideas about our place in the universe has been a long series of let-downs for those who like to believe we are special.”

Trying Mind Believe Long Has Beens Ideas Universe Tree Feet Special Series Tied Rope

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“There's the anti-intellectual movement in society and I don't blame them entirely for feeling that way because we all know people, I have many colleagues where you try to hang out with them and they make you feel bad for not knowing what they know. If that's how you interact with people, why would anyone want to be that.”

People Ifs Knows Way Want Feels Trying Feelings Knowing Movement Intellectual Blame Hanging Out Not Knowing Colleagues

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“A scientist is just a kid who never grew up.”

Kids Grew Grew Up Scientist

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Everyone should have their mind blown once a day.”

Should Mind Should Have

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Revelation replaced investigation.”

Revelations Investigation Replaced

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“To believe in a universe as young as 6 or 7,000 years old is to extinguish the light from most of the galaxy.”

Years Believe Light Young Universe Galaxy

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“A conspiracy theorist is a person who tacitly admits that they have insufficient data to prove their points. A conspiracy is a battle cry of a person with insufficient data.”

Persons Cry Battle Prove Data Conspiracy Insufficient Theorists Battle Cry

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Science literacy is a vaccine against the charlatans of the world that would exploit your ignorance.”

World Ignorance Literacy Exploits Vaccines Charlatans Science Literacy

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“As areas of knowledge grow, so too do the perimeters of ignorance.”

Grows Ignorance Areas Perimeter

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Science is a philosophy of discovery; intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance... Something fundamamental is going on in people's minds when they confront things they don't understnd.”

People Mind Philosophy Design Ignorance Discovery Intelligent Intelligent Design

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Here's the problem, when you're stargazing on a mountain top you are partially oxygen-deprived and you're in command of million dollars worth of hardware. So as much as I would like to sip wine under the stars, it's contraindicated in the instructions on operating telescopes.”

Problem Stars Millions Mountain Wine Dollars Command Instruction Oxygen Deprived Million Dollars Telescopes Hardware Mountain Top Stargazing

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“'Boldly going where hundreds have gone before' does not make headlines.”

Doe Gone Headlines

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“When I grew up I assembled my role models à la cart. I wanted to be an astrophysicist. If I tried to find a role model who grew up in the Bronx with my skin color who was an astrophysicist, I would never have become an astrophysicist.”

Ifs Wanted Roles Color Grew Grew Up Models Skins Role Models Carts Skin Color Bronx

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Any time scientists disagree, it's because we have insufficient data. Then we can agree on what kind of data to get; we get the data; and the data solves the problem. Either I'm right, or you're right, or we're both wrong. And we move on. That kind of conflict resolution does not exist in politics or religion.”

Kind Doe Problem Moving Conflict Scientist Agree Solve Data Resolution Disagree Insufficient Conflict Resolution

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“We went to the moon and discovered Earth.”

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“I have yet to see a successful prediction about the physical world that was inferred or extrapolated from the content of any religions document.”

World Successful Documents Predictions

Book:The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist

Source: The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist

“There's an old saying in the space community: 'If God wanted us to be a spacefaring species, he would have given us a moon'.”

Ifs Wanted Given Community Space Moon Species Old Saying

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Evidence my 14yr old daughter is geek-literate: In lieu of OK, one might type K while texting. She instead typed "Potassium".”

Might Type Daughter Evidence Geek Texting Potassium

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“God displayed a sense of humor when he configured the region between our legs an entertainment complex built around a sewage system.”

Built Complexes Entertainment Legs Regions Sense Of Humor Sewage

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“After 50 years of television, there's no other conclusion the aliens could draw, but that most humans are neurotic, death-hungry, dysfunctional idiots.”

Years Humans Television Draws Hungry Conclusion Aliens Idiot Neurotic

Book:Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

Source: Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

“We live in the kind of society where, in almost all cases, hard work is rewarded.”

Kind Hard Cases Hard Work

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“It's my duty to enlighten people.”

People Duty Enlightening

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“For the film to 'earn' the right to be criticized on a scientific level is a high compliment indeed.”

Levels Compliment

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Does the full moon affect people's behavior, you ask? Yup. It makes people think the full moon affects people's behavior.”

People Thinking Doe Asks Moon Behavior Full Moon

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Science is not there for you to cherry pick ... You can decide whether or not to believe in it but that doesn’t change the reality of an emergent scientific truth.”

Believe Reality Picks Cherries Scientific Truth

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“It's progress I think, that science has joined philosophy, metaphysics & religion as subjects drunk people argue about in bars.”

People Thinking Philosophy Progress Subjects Arguing Bars Drunk Metaphysics Drunk People

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“If we have the power to turn another planet into Earth, then we have the power to turn Earth back into Earth.”

Ifs Earth Turns Planets

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Science is not a subject you took in school. It's life. We are wrapped by it, in it, with it.”

School Subjects

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Three and a half million years ago our ancestors - yours and mine - left these traces [indicates footprints]. We stood up and parted ways from them. Once we were standing on two feet, our eyes were no longer fixated on the ground. Now, we were free to look up and wonder.”

Way Years Looks Two Eye Three Left Half Wonder Millions Feet Mines Years Ago Standing Look Up Ancestor Footprint Stood Up

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“We think scientific literacy flows out of how many science facts can you recite rather than how was your brain wired for thinking. And it's the brain wiring that I'm more interested in rather than the facts that come out of the curriculum or the lesson plan that's been proposed.”

Thinking Facts Brain Plans Lessons Flow Literacy Curriculum Wiring

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“I can't tell you how many people say they were turned off from science because of a science teacher that completely sucked out all the inspiration and enthusiasm they had for the course.”

People I Can Inspiration Courses Teacher Enthusiasm Turned Off Science Teacher

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

“You know, there's black holes and what - could there be wormholes? Could - might there be a multi-verse? These are all fascinating frontiers. What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy? And what was around before the universe? And do we have access to higher dimensions?”

Knows Matter Might Universe Energy Black Dark Higher Access Holes Dimensions Fascinating Verses Frontiers Black Hole Dark Matter Dark Energy Wormholes

Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson

About the Author

Born: October 5, 1958
Known for: Astrophysicist
Quotes: 822

Related Topics

Ifs People Universe Science Thinking Earth Knows World Space Want

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic QuandariesRelated source material

Astrophysics for People in a HurryRelated source material

The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban AstrophysicistRelated source material

Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate FrontierRelated source material

Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on CivilizationRelated source material

CosmosRelated source material

Letters from an AstrophysicistRelated source material

Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic EvolutionRelated source material

Astrophysics for Young People in a HurryRelated source material

Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're GoingRelated source material

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