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You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't mean just whether a politician is scientifically literate, but people who vote politicians into office.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

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Neil deGrasse Tyson
Age: 66
Born: 1958
Born: October 5
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More quotes by Neil deGrasse Tyson

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The universe has really never made things in ones. The Earth is special and everything else is different? No, we’ve got seven other planets. The sun? No, the sun is one of those dots in the night sky. The Milky Way? No, it’s one of a hundred billion galaxies. And the universe - maybe it’s countless other universes.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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In science, if you don't do it, somebody else will. Whereas in art, if Beethoven didn't compose the 'Ninth Symphony,' no one else before or after is going to compose the 'Ninth Symphony' that he composed no one else is going to paint 'Starry Night' by van Gogh.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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If cosmological theory were dominated by women, who are no strangers to cycles, how can we know for sure that we wouldn't then be told that the oscillating universe is the more aesthetically fulfilling alternative?
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I simply go with what works. And what works is the healthy skepticism embodied in the scientific method. Believe me, if the Bible had ever been shown to be a rich source of scientific answers and enlightenment, we would be mining it daily for cosmic discovery.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I can tell you about the universe, but she feels it and when you feel the universe, it has a whole other meaning to you. Otherwise, you just put a Wiki page on camera. You can learn something, but it won't mean anything to you later on.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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The discovery of any kind of life [in Space] at all would be a tremendous watershed moment in biology, as well as all of science.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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I try to educate the public and let them make the decisions for themselves.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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You say you're worried about kids? I'm not worried about kids, I'm worried about grown ups... Children are not the problem here... We spend the first year of their lives teaching them how to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives telling them to shut up and sit down.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Scientific inquiry shouldn't stop just because a reasonable explanation has apparently been found.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Only when creative people take ownership of cosmic discovery will society accept science as the cultural activity that it is.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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The very nature of science is discoveries, and the best of those discoveries are the ones you don't expect.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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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.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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No one is saying you're possessed by the devil anymore except the most ignorant of people in modern culture.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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You can deceive yourself into thinking that America is a technological leader, but if you don't see what anyone else is doing you have no accurate assessment - you can't make an accurate assessment of where you fit and why. I consider our moving frontier in space as the anecdote to that downward trend.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Whether or not you can never become great at something, you can always become better at it. Don't ever forget that! And don’t say “I’ll never be good”. You can become better! and one day you’ll wake up and you’ll find out how good you actually became.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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You know, dark matter matters.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Research in education has shown that we remember field trips long into adulthood. I remember visiting the post office in second grade and looking at the sorting machine. I have vivid memories of that, when I don't even remember the name of the teacher who took me.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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If you're denying God's power, that means you don't really believe they were miracles, and so then why believe they happened at all. What you're saying is you're taking the Bible's account as literally true in need of a scientific explanation rather than just people coming up with stuff to fulfill their religious missions.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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The universe is so amazing and so limitless, who wouldn't want to study the universe?
Neil deGrasse Tyson