--- title: "18 Ifs Quotes By Lewis Thomas" description: "18 Ifs quotes by Lewis Thomas. Plus more from Lewis Thomas and more Ifs sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/lewis-thomas-2299_accidents_things-are-bound-to-begin-happening-if-y_2839482.png" --- > [Things are bound to begin happening if you've got your wits about you. You create the lucky accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/things-are-bound-to-begin-happening-if-you-ve-got-your-wits-about-you/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53d/lewis-thomas-2299_accidents_things-are-bound-to-begin-happening-if-y_2839482.png) > [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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/622/lewis-thomas-2299_helping_if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushin_70237.png) > [It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-so-bad-being-ignorant-if-you-are-totally-ignorant-the-hard/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ed/lewis-thomas-2299_being-ignorant_it-is-not-so-bad-being-ignorant-if-you-a_2428165.png) > [On any Tuesday morning, if asked, a good working scientist will tell you with some self-satisfaction that the affairs of his field…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/on-any-tuesday-morning-if-asked-a-good-working-scientist-will-tell/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed6/lewis-thomas-2299_affair_on-any-tuesday-morning-if-asked-a-good-w_1454527.jpg) > [We hanker to go on, even in the face of plain evidence that long, long lives are not necessarily pleasurable in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-hanker-to-go-on-even-in-the-face-of-plain-evidence-that-long-long/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/lewis-thomas-2299_evidence_we-hanker-to-go-on-even-in-the-face-of-p_2578114.png) > [If we have learned anything at all in this century, it is that all new technologies will be put to use, sooner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-we-have-learned-anything-at-all-in-this-century-it-is-that-all-new/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/lewis-thomas-2299_century_if-we-have-learned-anything-at-all-in-th_2845963.jpg) > [I can say, if I like, that social insects behave like the working parts of an immense central nervous system: the termite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-can-say-if-i-like-that-social-insects-behave-like-the-working-parts/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58d/lewis-thomas-2299_behave_i-can-say-if-i-like-that-social-insects_920471.png) > [The commas are the most useful and usable of all the stops. It is highly important to put them in place as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usable-of-all-the-stops-it-is/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/lewis-thomas-2299_affection_the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usabl_871015.jpg) > [I am entitled to say, if I like, that awareness exists in all the individual creatures on the planet-worms, sea urchins, gnats,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-am-entitled-to-say-if-i-like-that-awareness-exists-in-all-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79e/lewis-thomas-2299_awareness_i-am-entitled-to-say-if-i-like-that-awar_2261712.png) > [Maybe there is a single spot, just one, where living organisms are holed up. Maybe so, but if so this would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/maybe-there-is-a-single-spot-just-one-where-living-organisms-are/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c28/lewis-thomas-2299_creatures_maybe-there-is-a-single-spot-just-one-wh_2767650.jpg) > [I have been trying to think of the earth as a kind of organism, but it is no go. I cannot think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-have-been-trying-to-think-of-the-earth-as-a-kind-of-organism-but-it/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/lewis-thomas-2299_bigs_i-have-been-trying-to-think-of-the-earth_2777746.jpg) > [It is almost always a greater pleasure to come across a semicolon than a period. The period tells you that that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-almost-always-a-greater-pleasure-to-come-across-a-semicolon/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1a/lewis-thomas-2299_expectancy_it-is-almost-always-a-greater-pleasure-t_1017547.jpg) > [It is when physicians are bogged down by their incomplete technologies, by the innumerable things they are obliged to do in medicine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-when-physicians-are-bogged-down-by-their-incomplete/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ab/lewis-thomas-2299_basic-research_it-is-when-physicians-are-bogged-down-by_795106.png) > [Perhaps the safest thing to do at the outset, if technology permits, is to send music. This language may be the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/perhaps-the-safest-thing-to-do-at-the-outset-if-technology-permits-is/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c62/lewis-thomas-2299_acquaintance_perhaps-the-safest-thing-to-do-at-the-ou_596004.jpg) > [Exclamation points are the most irritating of all. Look! they say, look at what I just said! How amazing is my thought!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/exclamation-points-are-the-most-irritating-of-all-look-they-say-look/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce5/lewis-thomas-2299_attention_exclamation-points-are-the-most-irritati_2425539.jpg) > [Mistakes are at the very base of human thought, embedded there, feeding the structure like root nodules. If we were not provided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/mistakes-are-at-the-very-base-of-human-thought-embedded-there-feeding/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/lewis-thomas-2299_alternatives_mistakes-are-at-the-very-base-of-human-t_2202450.jpg) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern…](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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/lewis-thomas-2299_alive_the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our_140276.png) > [When committees gather, each member is necessarily an actor, uncontrollably acting out the part of himself, reading the lines that identify him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/when-committees-gather-each-member-is-necessarily-an-actor/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/lewis-thomas-2299_acting_when-committees-gather-each-member-is-ne_2940709.jpg) ## Other authors on Ifs ## 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/ifs/lewis-thomas/#itemlist", "name": "18 Ifs Quotes By Lewis Thomas", "numberOfItems": 18, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Things are bound to begin happening if you've got your wits about you. 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It is highly important to put them in place as you go along. If you try to come back after doing a paragraph and stick them in the various spots that tempt you you will discover that they tend to swarm like minnows into sorts of crevices whose existence you hadn't realized and before you know it the whole long sentence becomes immobilized and lashed up squirming in commas. 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Maybe so, but if so this would be the strangest thing of all, absolutely incomprehensible. For we are not familiar with this kind of living. We do not have solitary, isolated creatures. 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If I were a policy-maker, interested in saving money for health care over the long haul, I would regard it as an act of high prudence to give high priority to a lot more basic research in biologic science.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-when-physicians-are-bogged-down-by-their-incomplete/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ab/lewis-thomas-2299_basic-research_it-is-when-physicians-are-bogged-down-by_795106.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ab/lewis-thomas-2299_basic-research_it-is-when-physicians-are-bogged-down-by_795106.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ab/lewis-thomas-2299_basic-research_it-is-when-physicians-are-bogged-down-by_795106.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is when physicians are bogged down by their incomplete technologies, by the innumerable things they are…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perhaps the safest thing to do at the outset, if technology permits, is to send music. This language may be the best we have for explaining what we are like to others in space, with least ambiguity. I would vote for Bach, all of Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be bragging of course, but it is surely excusable to put the best possible face on at the beginning of such an acquaintance. 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