Top 35 Quotes by Joshua Lederberg

If you wanted to dissect the structure of living cells, genetic analysis was an extremely powerful method, so my interest turned to that.

I was making a lot of momentous personal decisions. I was still very very young: when the prize was awarded, I was 33; the work I had done when I was 21.

By the time I was 12 or 13, I was studying biochemistry textbooks.

I'm not easily inhibited by the fact that I don't know something about a subject. It doesn't stop me from dabbling in it.

I hope I've lived a life of science whose style will encourage younger people.

Although I am a public figure, I'm still a little shy. I don't think my own personality is important. I prefer to keep some small dosage of privacy.

If we have isolated individuals able to inflict enormous harm, imagine what a single lunatic can do with a nuclear weapon. I think the whole base of civil society is at risk.

To have the recognition of your colleagues is great. The public attention is a mixed blessing.

When I was in high school, I became interested in cytochemistry: chemical analysis under the microscope, and trying to understand the composition of cells.

I have many shortcomings. I feel very lucky to have been able to have what I've had.