Michael Crichton citations (124 citations)

Variante: Professor Johnston often said that if you didn't know history, you didn't know anything. You were a leaf that didn't know it was part of a tree.
Source: Timeline

“I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.”

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Michael Crichton livre State of Fear

State of Fear (2004)

“Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.”

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Michael Crichton livre State of Fear

Source: State of Fear

“It's better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.”

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Michael Crichton

“Environmentalism needs to be absolutely based in objective and verifiable science, it needs to be rational, and it needs to be flexible. And it needs to be apolitical. To mix environmental concerns with the frantic fantasies that people have about one political party or another is to miss the cold truth — that there is very little difference between the parties, except a difference in pandering rhetoric.”

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Michael Crichton

Environmentalism as a Religion (2003)
Contexte: Environmentalism needs to be absolutely based in objective and verifiable science, it needs to be rational, and it needs to be flexible. And it needs to be apolitical. To mix environmental concerns with the frantic fantasies that people have about one political party or another is to miss the cold truth — that there is very little difference between the parties, except a difference in pandering rhetoric. The effort to promote effective legislation for the environment is not helped by thinking that the Democrats will save us and the Republicans won't. Political history is more complicated than that.

“I want to mention in passing that punditry has undergone a subtle change over the years.”

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Michael Crichton

"Why Speculate?" https://web.archive.org/web/20050328084634/http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote03.html - speech at the International Leadership Forum, La Jolla, California (26 April 2002) <br class="br">Contexte: I want to mention in passing that punditry has undergone a subtle change over the years. In the old days, commentators such as Eric Sevareid spent most of their time putting events in a context, giving a point of view about what had already happened. Telling what they thought was important or irrelevant in the events that had already taken place. This is of course a legitimate function of expertise in every area of human knowledge.<br>But over the years the punditic thrust has shifted away from discussing what has happened, to discussing what may happen. And here the pundits have no benefit of expertise at all. Worse, they may, like the Sunday politicians, attempt to advance one or another agenda by predicting its imminent arrival or demise. This is politicking, not predicting.

“The notion that the natural world obeys its own rules and doesn't give a damn about your expectations comes as a massive shock… it will demand that you adapt to it — and if you don't, you die.”

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Michael Crichton

Environmentalism as a Religion (2003)
Contexte: The notion that the natural world obeys its own rules and doesn't give a damn about your expectations comes as a massive shock... it will demand that you adapt to it — and if you don't, you die. It is a harsh, powerful, and unforgiving world, that most urban westerners have never experienced.