I was an aspiring astrophysicist, and that's how I defined myself, not by my skin color. People didn't treat me as someone with science ambitions. They treated me as someone they thought was going to mug them, or who was a shoplifter. Neil deGrasse Tyson ambitionaspireastrophysicist share on social
No one wants to die, and no one wants to die poor. These are the two fundamental truths that transcend culture, they transcend politics, they transcend economic cycles. Neil deGrasse Tyson culturecycledie Change image and share on social
Half of my library are old books because I like seeing how people thought about their world at their time. So that I don't get bigheaded about something we just discovered and I can be humble about where we might go next. Because you can see who got stuff right and most of the people who got stuff wrong. Neil deGrasse Tyson bigheadbookdiscover share on social
Mars once was wet and fertile. It's now bone dry. Something bad happened on Mars. I want to know what happened on Mars so that we may prevent it from happening here on Earth. Neil deGrasse Tyson badboneearth Change image and share on social
The Pacific is the best toilet for satellites. Neil deGrasse Tyson pacificsatellitetoilet Change image and share on social
No astrophysicist would deny the possibility of life. I think we're not creative enough to imagine what life would be like on another planet. Show me a dead alien. Better yet, show me a live one! Neil deGrasse Tyson alienastrophysicistcreative Change image and share on social
Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence. Neil deGrasse Tyson accountbeneficencebenevolence share on social
People generally don't recognize how long it takes to conceive, publish, and write a book. Neil deGrasse Tyson bookconceivegenerally Change image and share on social
The history of exploration has never been driven by exploration. But Columbus himself was a discoverer. So was Magellan. But the people who wrote checks were not. They had other motivations. Neil deGrasse Tyson checkcolumbusdiscoverer Change image and share on social
Rational thoughts never drive people's creativity the way emotions do. Neil deGrasse Tyson creativitydriveemotion Change image and share on social