To apply general tools to specific problems is to fail. Michael Crichton More Quotes by Michael Crichton More Quotes From Michael Crichton Science is the most exciting and sustained enterprise of discovery in the history of our species. It is the great adventure of our time. We live today in an era of discovery that far outshadows the discoveries of the New World five hundred years ago. Michael Crichton discovery adventure years Sneaking up on it sometimes helps: I've found I can be very productive for an hour before dinner, because there obviously isn't enough time to really do anything, so I can tell myself I'm just screwing around. Michael Crichton enough-time dinner writing Face the facts, all these environmental organizations are thirty, forty, fifty years old. They have big buildings, big obligations, big staffs. They may trade on their youthful dreams, but the truth is, they're now part of the establishment. And the establishment works to preserve the status quo. It just does. Michael Crichton organization dream years The American media produce a product of very poor quality. Its information is not reliable, it has too much chrome and glitz, its doors rattle, it breaks down almost immediately, and it's sold without warranty. It's flashy, but it's basically junk. Michael Crichton poor-quality media doors Readers probably haven't heard much about it yet, but they will. Quantum technology turns ordinary reality upside down. Michael Crichton technology ordinary reality No man is so good as to be free from all evil, nor so bad as to be worth nothing. Michael Crichton evil men It's not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw. Michael Crichton cutting humans easy The best doctors found a middle position where they were neither overwhelmed by their feelings nor estranged from them. That was the most difficult position of all, and the precise balance - neither too detached nor too caring - was something few learned. Michael Crichton doctors caring feelings 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. Michael Crichton important running long Science is the business of generating testable hypotheses. Michael Crichton hypothesis I was certain that some people, whether by accident of birth or some pecularity of training, could tune in to another source of information and could know things about people we didn't think were possible to know. Michael Crichton training people thinking In order not to be misunderstood, I want it perfectly clear that I believe it is incumbent on us to conduct our lives in a way that takes into account all the consequences of our actions, including the consequences to other people, and the consequences to the environment. Michael Crichton order believe people In our modern complex world, fundamentalism is dangerous because of its rigidity and its imperviousness to other ideas. Michael Crichton modern world ideas 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? Michael Crichton doctors crazy careers Power is neither male or female. Michael Crichton males female Praise not the day until evening has come, a woman until she is burnt, a sword until it is tried, a maiden until she is married, ice until it has been crossed, beer until it has been drunk. Michael Crichton drunk ice beer We are one of only three species on our planet that can claim to be self-aware, yet self-delusion may be a more significant characteristic of our kind. Michael Crichton three self may If true computer music were ever written, it would only be listened to by other computers. Michael Crichton computer written ifs One may even suspect that there is more to reality than measurements will ever reveal. Michael Crichton measurement may reality Considering that we live in an era of evolutionary everything---evolutionary biology, evolutionary medicine, evolutionary ecology, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary economics, evolutionary computing---it was surprising how rarely people thought in evolutionary terms. It was a human blind spot. We look at the world around us as a snapshot when it was really a movie, constantly changing. Michael Crichton blind-spots medicine people
