Friendships Are Nice. So Is Competence.

Caring Is Irrelevant. Desire To Do Good Is Irrelevant. All That Counts Is Knowledge And Results

People Were So Naive About Plants, Ellie Thought. They Just Chose Plants For Appearance, As They Would Choose A Picture For The Wall. It Never Occurred To Them That Plants Were Actually Living Things, Busily Performing All The Living Functions Of Respiration, Ingestion, Excretion, Reproduction---and Defense.

Let's Be Clear: All Professions Look Bad In The Movies. And There's A Good Reason For This. Movies Don't Portray Career Paths, They Conscript Interesting Lifestyles To Serve A Plot. So Lawyers Are All Unscrupulous And Doctors Are All Uncaring. Psychiatrists Are All Crazy, And Politicians Are All Corrupt. All Cops Are Psychopaths, And All Businessmen Are Crooks. Even Moviemakers Come Off Badly: Directors Are Megalomaniacs, Actors Are Spoiled Brats. Since All Occupations Are Portrayed Negatively, Why Expect Scientists To Be Treated Differently?

Most Areas Of Intellectual Life Have Discovered The Virtues Of Speculation, And Have Embraced Them Wildly. In Academia, Speculation Is Usually Dignified As Theory.

It's Hard To Decide Who's Truly Brilliant; It's Easier To See Who's Driven, Which In The Long Run May Be More Important.