--- title: "11 Biology Quotes By Lewis Thomas" description: "11 Biology quotes by Lewis Thomas. Plus more from Lewis Thomas and more Biology sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now_1488406.png" --- > [At this early stage in our evolution, now through our infancy and into our childhood and then, with luck, our growing up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now-through-our-infancy-and-into/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now_1488406.png) > [Survival, in the cool economics of biology, means simply the persistence of one's own genes in the generations to follow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/survival-in-the-cool-economics-of-biology-means-simply-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_survival-in-the-cool-economics-of-biolog_812393.png) > [Animals have genes for altruism, and those genes have been selected in the evolution of many creatures because of the advantage they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/animals-have-genes-for-altruism-and-those-genes-have-been-selected-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f5/lewis-thomas-2299_advantage_animals-have-genes-for-altruism-and-thos_2628296.png) > [I cannot think of a single field in biology or medicine in which we can claim genuine understanding, and it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biology-or-medicine-in-which-we/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png) > [Altruism has always been one of biology's deep mysteries. Why should any animal, off on its own, specified and labeled by all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/altruism-has-always-been-one-of-biology-s-deep-mysteries-why-should/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/lewis-thomas-2299_aids_altruism-has-always-been-one-of-biology_2889748.png) > [The need to make music, and to listen to it, is universally expressed by human beings. I cannot imagine, even in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-need-to-make-music-and-to-listen-to-it-is-universally-expressed/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/lewis-thomas-2299_aspect_the-need-to-make-music-and-to-listen-to_478531.jpg) > [We live in a dancing matrix of viruses; they dart, rather like bees, from organism to organism, from plant to insect to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-live-in-a-dancing-matrix-of-viruses-they-dart-rather-like-bees/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/lewis-thomas-2299_bees_we-live-in-a-dancing-matrix-of-viruses-t_2188031.png) > [Well, biology today as I see it has an amiable look - quite different from the 19th-century view that the whole arrangement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/well-biology-today-as-i-see-it-has-an-amiable-look-quite-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1de/lewis-thomas-2299_19th-century_well-biology-today-as-i-see-it-has-an-am_1489650.png) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/lewis-thomas-2299_astonishing_the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more_210829.png) > [We carry stores of DNA in our nuclei that may have come in, at one time or another, from the fusion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-carry-stores-of-dna-in-our-nuclei-that-may-have-come-in-at-one/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/lewis-thomas-2299_another_we-carry-stores-of-dna-in-our-nuclei-tha_1511504.png) > [“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of existing would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/statistically-the-probability-of-any-one-of-us-being-here-is-so-small-3/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_2735183.jpg) ## Other authors on Biology - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-dawkins-78503.jpg) Richard Dawkins 67 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/richard-dawkins/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-jay-gould-87041.jpg) Stephen Jay Gould 40 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/stephen-jay-gould/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-e-o-wilson-31102.jpg) E. O. Wilson 29 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/e-o-wilson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-yuval-noah-harari-100.jpg) Yuval Noah Harari 26 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/yuval-noah-harari/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-siddhartha-mukherjee-85288.jpg) Siddhartha Mukherjee 25 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/siddhartha-mukherjee/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-carl-sagan-20994.jpg) Carl Sagan 21 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/carl-sagan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pierre-teilhard-de-chardin-75655.jpg) Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-frances-arnold-5774.jpg) Frances Arnold 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/frances-arnold/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-neil-degrasse-tyson-70683.jpg) Neil deGrasse Tyson 19 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/neil-degrasse-tyson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bill-nye-18005.jpg) Bill Nye 18 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/bill-nye/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-steven-pinker-87519.jpg) Steven Pinker 17 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/steven-pinker/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-ernst-mayr-33893.jpg) Ernst Mayr 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/ernst-mayr/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Having long suspected that there was something alive in there, running the place, separate from everything else, absolutely individual and independent, we've celebrated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/having-long-suspected-that-there-was-something-alive-in-there-running/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/lewis-thomas/#itemlist", "name": "11 Biology Quotes By Lewis Thomas", "numberOfItems": 11, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At this early stage in our evolution, now through our infancy and into our childhood and then, with luck, our growing up, what our species needs most of all, right now, is simply a future.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now-through-our-infancy-and-into/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now_1488406.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now_1488406.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now_1488406.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At this early stage in our evolution, now through our infancy and into our childhood and then, with luck…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Survival, in the cool economics of biology, means simply the persistence of one's own genes in the generations to follow.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/survival-in-the-cool-economics-of-biology-means-simply-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_survival-in-the-cool-economics-of-biolog_812393.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_survival-in-the-cool-economics-of-biolog_812393.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_survival-in-the-cool-economics-of-biolog_812393.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Survival, in the cool economics of biology, means simply the persistence of one's own genes in the…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Animals have genes for altruism, and those genes have been selected in the evolution of many creatures because of the advantage they confer for the continuing survival of the species.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/animals-have-genes-for-altruism-and-those-genes-have-been-selected-in/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f5/lewis-thomas-2299_advantage_animals-have-genes-for-altruism-and-thos_2628296.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f5/lewis-thomas-2299_advantage_animals-have-genes-for-altruism-and-thos_2628296.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f5/lewis-thomas-2299_advantage_animals-have-genes-for-altruism-and-thos_2628296.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Animals have genes for altruism, and those genes have been selected in the evolution of many creatures…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I cannot think of a single field in biology or medicine in which we can claim genuine understanding, and it seems to me the more we learn about living creatures, especially ourselves, the stranger life becomes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biology-or-medicine-in-which-we/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I cannot think of a single field in biology or medicine in which we can claim genuine understanding, and it…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Altruism has always been one of biology's deep mysteries. Why should any animal, off on its own, specified and labeled by all sorts of signals as its individual self, choose to give up its life in aid of someone else?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/altruism-has-always-been-one-of-biology-s-deep-mysteries-why-should/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/lewis-thomas-2299_aids_altruism-has-always-been-one-of-biology_2889748.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/lewis-thomas-2299_aids_altruism-has-always-been-one-of-biology_2889748.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a2/lewis-thomas-2299_aids_altruism-has-always-been-one-of-biology_2889748.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Altruism has always been one of biology's deep mysteries. Why should any animal, off on its own, specified…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The need to make music, and to listen to it, is universally expressed by human beings. I cannot imagine, even in our most primitive times, the emergence of talented painters to make cave paintings without there having been, near at hand, equally creative people making song. It is, like speech, a dominant aspect of human biology.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-need-to-make-music-and-to-listen-to-it-is-universally-expressed/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/lewis-thomas-2299_aspect_the-need-to-make-music-and-to-listen-to_478531.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/lewis-thomas-2299_aspect_the-need-to-make-music-and-to-listen-to_478531.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/lewis-thomas-2299_aspect_the-need-to-make-music-and-to-listen-to_478531.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The need to make music, and to listen to it, is universally expressed by human beings. I cannot imagine…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We live in a dancing matrix of viruses; they dart, rather like bees, from organism to organism, from plant to insect to mammal to me and back again, and into the sea, tugging along pieces of this genome, strings of genes from that, transplanting grafts of DNA, passing around heredity as though at a great party.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-live-in-a-dancing-matrix-of-viruses-they-dart-rather-like-bees/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/lewis-thomas-2299_bees_we-live-in-a-dancing-matrix-of-viruses-t_2188031.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/lewis-thomas-2299_bees_we-live-in-a-dancing-matrix-of-viruses-t_2188031.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/lewis-thomas-2299_bees_we-live-in-a-dancing-matrix-of-viruses-t_2188031.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We live in a dancing matrix of viruses; they dart, rather like bees, from organism to organism, from plant…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Well, biology today as I see it has an amiable look - quite different from the 19th-century view that the whole arrangement of nature is hostile, 'red in tooth and claw.' That came about because people misread Darwin's 'survival of the fittest.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/well-biology-today-as-i-see-it-has-an-amiable-look-quite-different/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1de/lewis-thomas-2299_19th-century_well-biology-today-as-i-see-it-has-an-am_1489650.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1de/lewis-thomas-2299_19th-century_well-biology-today-as-i-see-it-has-an-am_1489650.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1de/lewis-thomas-2299_19th-century_well-biology-today-as-i-see-it-has-an-am_1489650.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Well, biology today as I see it has an amiable look - quite different from the 19th-century view that the…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single cell, fertilized in a bolt of lightning as the earth cooled. It is from the progeny of this parent cell that we take our looks; we still share genes around, and the resemblance of the enzymes of grasses to those of whales is a family resemblance.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/lewis-thomas-2299_astonishing_the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more_210829.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/lewis-thomas-2299_astonishing_the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more_210829.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/lewis-thomas-2299_astonishing_the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more_210829.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We carry stores of DNA in our nuclei that may have come in, at one time or another, from the fusion of ancestral cells and the linking of ancestral organisms in symbiosis. Our genomes are catalogues of instructions from all kinds of sources in nature, filed for all kinds of contingencies.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-carry-stores-of-dna-in-our-nuclei-that-may-have-come-in-at-one/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/lewis-thomas-2299_another_we-carry-stores-of-dna-in-our-nuclei-tha_1511504.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/lewis-thomas-2299_another_we-carry-stores-of-dna-in-our-nuclei-tha_1511504.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/lewis-thomas-2299_another_we-carry-stores-of-dna-in-our-nuclei-tha_1511504.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We carry stores of DNA in our nuclei that may have come in, at one time or another, from the fusion of…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise. We are alive against the stupendous odds of genetics, infinitely outnumbered by all the alternates who might, except for luck, be in our places. Even more astounding is our statistical improbability in physical terms. The normal, predictable state of matter throughout the universe is randomness, a relaxed sort of equilibrium, with atoms and their particles scattered around in an amorphous muddle. We, in brilliant contrast, are completely organized structures, squirming with information at every covalent bond. We make our living by catching electrons at the moment of their excitement by solar photons, swiping the energy released at the instant of each jump and storing it up in intricate loops fro ourselves. We violate probability, by our nature. To be able to do this systematically, and in such wild varieties of form, from viruses to whales, is extremely unlikely; to have sustained the effort successfully for the several billion years of our existence, without drifting back into randomness, was nearly a mathematical impossibility. Add to this the biological improbability that makes each member of our own species unique. Everyone is one in 3 billion at the moment, which describes the odds. Each of us is a self-contained, free-standing individual, labeled by specific protein configurations at the surfaces of cells, identifiable by whorls of fingertip skin, maybe even by special medleys of fragrance. You'd think we'd never stop dancing.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/statistically-the-probability-of-any-one-of-us-being-here-is-so-small-3/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_2735183.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_2735183.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_2735183.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/lewis-thomas/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/lewis-thomas/", "name": "Biology Quotes by Lewis Thomas", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/lewis-thomas/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_at-this-early-stage-in-our-evolution-now_1488406.png" }, "description": "11 Biology quotes by Lewis Thomas. Plus more from Lewis Thomas and more Biology sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/lewis-thomas/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/lewis-thomas/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Biology", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Lewis Thomas", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/lewis-thomas/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```