Neil deGrasse Tyson: Trending quotes (page 4)

“In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

This was a quote by Aalewis http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-this-moment-i-am-euphoric
Misattributions

God , Intelligence

“Some of the most productive times in the histories of nations have been when they were badly stressed — economically, politically, culturally or socially. It's possible to be stressed to a point that more creativity is stimulated than would otherwise be the case. I think it is true that necessity is the mother of invention.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Global Ideas from Pluto's Challenger (May 21, 2009)

History , Thinking , Time

“Knowing how things work is important, but I think that's an incomplete view of what science literacy is or, at least, should be. Science literacy is an outlook. It's more of a lens through which you observe what goes on around you.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Global Ideas from Pluto's Challenger (May 21, 2009)

Thinking , Science

“It has been said that every great emerging scientific truth goes to three phases: First people say: "It can't be true". Second they say: "It conflicts with the bible." Third they say: "It's true all along."”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Climate Change Deniers from ALL IN with Chris Hayes, MSNBC and also in Bill Maher Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJhbQIlu4mk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klgp_qDiRhQ
2010s
Variant: It has been said that every great emerging scientific truth goes to three phases: First people say: «It can't be true». Second they say: «It conflicts with the bible.» Third they say: «It's true all along.»

People , Truth

“George Bush, within a week of this [the 9/11 attacks], gave us a speech, attempting to distinguish 'we' from 'they' … and how does he do it?…. He says "Our god" — of course it’s actually the same God — but that's a detail, lets hold that minor fact aside for the moment. Allah of the muslims is the same God as the God of the Old Testament so he says … "Our God is the God who named the stars" … Here's the problem with his comment … The problem is: two-thirds of all stars that have names, have Arabic names. I don't think he knew this. That would confound the point that he was making.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

" I, Skeptic—Modern Skepticism in the Internet Age", The Amaz!ng Meeting 6 keynote speech (June 2008) http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/watch/2008/06/19/george-bush-and-star-names.
2000s

God , Star , Problem , Thinking

“I don't want students who could make the next major breakthrough in renewable energy sources or space travel to have been taught that anything they don't understand, and that nobody yet understands, is divinely constructed and therefore beyond their intellectual capacity. The day that happens, Americans will just sit in awe of what we don't understand, while we watch the rest of the world boldly go where no mortal has gone before.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

The Perimeter of Ignorance, Natural History Magazine, November 2005, 2010-12-07 http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/2005/11/01/the-perimeter-of-ignorance,
2000s

World , Travel , Understanding

“If you want to assert a truth, first make sure it's not just an opinion that you desperately want to be true.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Twitter post, https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/350753146445893633 (2015-03-03)
2010s

Truth

“Do parallel universes exist? We don't know, uhm parallel universes are losing favor to the multiverse we have some cogent theoretical expectations that our universe might be just one of many spawned from this, sort of, this hyper-dimensional medium which we'll call the multiverse there's no data to support it but we have good theoretical premise to think that it's there and we have philosophical precedent we used to think Earth was special and unique. It wasn't, we got 8.. 9.. 8 planet we thought the Sun was special it's one of a hundred billion suns, the galaxy's special, no there's a hundred billion galaxies we have one universe or do we? The track record said why should there only be one? be open to the possibility that you don't live in the majority [looking? ] universe that's out there Would a separate universe.. when you say "different universe" slightly different laws of physics which (that's what I'm asking) oh this is the fun part because if you find, if you manage to get a portal to another universe don't be the first one to volunteer to go through because your atoms are working in this universe if a slightly different law of physics.. you could implode, explode come out with three heads who knows?”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson Stephen Colbert Interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson at Montclair Kimberley Academy - 2010-Jan-29 http://transcriptvids.com/v/YXh9RQCvxmg.html
2010s

Law , Support , Thinking , Universe

“I'm optimistic. I see no longer people accepting fuzzy thinking in the world. The change is not that people aren't still saying under-informed things. The change is that if you're in power and you say something under-informed, there are people out there with a voice who will take you to task for having done so.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

A Conversation about Communicating Science, © 2007-2011 The Science Network, January 20, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ulkX-DA9BM,
2010s

People , World , Thinking , Change

“There are street artists. Street musicians. Street actors. But there are no street physicists. A little known secret is that a physicist is one of the most employable people in the marketplace - a physicist is a trained problem solver. How many times have you heard a person in a workplace say, "I wasn't trained for this!" That's an impossible reaction from a physicist, who would say, instead, "Cool. A problem I've never seen before. Let's see how I can figure out how to solve it!"”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Oh, and, have fun along the way.
Comment on "I am Neil deGrasse Tyson -- AMA", November 13, 2011 https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/mateq/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ama/c2zg4do,
2010s

People , Secret , Way , Problem

“All I can say is, the universe is in a good shape, it's earth that has all the problems.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil DeGrasse Tyson talks to CNN's Van Jones about climate change and the intersection of science with the military and politics. (2018-10-14)
2010s

Problem , Universe

“There are people who say "I'll never need this math, these trig identities from 10th grade or 11th grade," or maybe you never learned them. Here's the catch: whether or not you ever again use the math that you learned in school, the act of having learned the math established a wiring in your brain that didn't exist before and it's the wiring in your brain that makes you the problem solver.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Why would-be engineers end up as English majors, May 21, 2011 http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/17/education.stem.graduation/index.html,
2010s

People , School , Problem , Learning

“Halley shattered their monopoly, beating them at their own game. A game that no scientist had ever played before: Prophecy. -S01E03”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014)
Variant: 'Halley shattered their monopoly, beating them at their own game. A game that no scientist had every played before: Prophecy.

Game

“Within one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) than all humans who have ever been born. Yet many people continue to assert that it is we who are in charge of the world.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Comment on "I am Neil deGrasse Tyson -- AMA", March 01, 2012 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/qccer/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ask_me_anything/c3wguoh,
2010s

People , World

“Life is too short for me to worry about something I have no control over that I don’t even know will happen. People ask ‘if Earth is going to be swallowed by a black hole or if there is some disturbance in the spacetime continuum should we worry about it?’. My answer is ‘no’ because you won’t know about it until it crosses your… your place in space-time. Your beats come to you when nature decides it’s the right time… be it the speed of sound, the speed of light, the speed of electrical impulses we will forever be victims of the time delay between information around us and our capacity to receive it.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

WNYC Radio Podcast, RadioLab, "Shorts: What a Slinky Knows" (29 August 2012), Minute 11:33 http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2012/sep/10/what-slinky-knows/
2010s

Life , People , Nature , Light

“People cited violation of the First Amendment when a New Jersey schoolteacher asserted that evolution and the Big Bang are not scientific and that Noah's ark carried dinosaurs. This case is not about the need to separate church and state; it's about the need to separate ignorant, scientifically illiterate people from the ranks of teachers.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Letter to the Editor, New York Times, December 21, 2006, 2010-12-07 http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/2006/12/21/a-teacher-a-student-and-a-church-state-dispute,
2000s

People , Teachers

“If you start wielding a hammer, then all your problems look like nails. And maybe they’re not. Maybe it's more subtle than that. And so your toolkit has to be able to morph into what is necessary for what it is that you confront at that moment.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

At an interview with Stephen Colbert at Montclair Kimberley Academy on January 29th, 2010.
2010s
Variant: If you start wielding a hammer, then all your problems look like nails. And maybe they’re not. Maybe it's more subtle than that. And so your toolkit has to be able to morph into what is necessary for what it is that you confront at that moment.

Problem

“I could just tell you it's all bunk; but then you wouldn't be empowered to understand why. Other than to quote, "Oh, Doctor Tyson said…" And I never want you to quote me citing my authority as a scientist for your knowing something. If that's what you have to resort to I have failed as an educator. As an educator, it's my duty to empower you to think. So that you can go forth and think accurate thoughts about how the world is put together. Inoculating you against the [people] out there who will exploit your ignorance on anything they possibly can.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Debunks 2012 Armageddon http://www.tompainesghost.com/2010/06/neil-degrasse-tyson-debunks-2012.html after the James Webb telescope panel discussion in Battery Park at the World Science Festival, June 4th, 2010
2010s

People , World , Education , Quotes

“After your first job, is anyone asking you what your GPA was? No, they don't care. They ask you: Are you a good leader? Do people follow you? Do you have integrity? Are you innovative? Do you solve problems? Somebody's got to do that homework and redesign the educational system so that it can actually train people to be successful in life.I think the greatest teachers are not the ones that are best trained at educational tactics. I don't know a person who's ever said, "Boy, that teacher is so good! The teacher gives such good exams. That teacher gives such good homework sets!"”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

No one has said that about a great teacher. That's not what people remember about the great teachers they've had.
2000s, Global Ideas from Pluto's Challenger (May 21, 2009)

People , Education , Boy , Problem

“I am trying to convince people--not only the public, but lawmakers and people in power--that investing in the frontier of science, however remote it may seem in its relevance to what you're doing today, is a way of stockpiling the seed corns of future harvests of this nation… Advancing a frontier--history has shown--has advanced a culture ever since the industrial revolution got underway.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

At an interview with Stephen Colbert at Montclair Kimberley Academy on January 29th, 2010.
2010s

People , Way , History , Science