--- title: "13 Way Quotes By Lewis Thomas" description: "13 Way quotes by Lewis Thomas. Plus more from Lewis Thomas and more Way sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/lewis-thomas-2299_dna_we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-mole_1494913.png" --- > [We have come a long way on that old molecule DNA.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-molecule-dna/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/lewis-thomas-2299_dna_we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-mole_1494913.png) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be…](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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/lewis-thomas-2299_education_it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-uni_53507.png) > [The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any-2/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/lewis-thomas-2299_agency_the-future-is-too-interesting-and-danger_1602360.jpg) > [We do not understand much of anything, from... the "big bang" , all the way down to the particles in the atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-do-not-understand-much-of-anything-from-the-big-bang-all-the-way/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/lewis-thomas-2299_atoms_we-do-not-understand-much-of-anything-fr_522745.png) > [We habitually engage in meddling with nature. Until this century most of this meddling was good. Witness the preservation of the European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-habitually-engage-in-meddling-with-nature-until-this-century-most/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/lewis-thomas-2299_behave_we-habitually-engage-in-meddling-with-na_3105638.png) > [We are at our human finest, dancing with our minds, when there are more choices than two. Sometimes there are ten, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-at-our-human-finest-dancing-with-our-minds-when-there-are-more/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/lewis-thomas-2299_bounds_we-are-at-our-human-finest-dancing-with_2225497.png) > [Although I usually think I know what I'm going to be writing about, what I'm going to say, most of the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/although-i-usually-think-i-know-what-i-m-going-to-be-writing-about/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/lewis-thomas-2299_bits_although-i-usually-think-i-know-what-i-m_2061844.png) > [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) > [I won't compare ants and people, but ants give us a useful model of how single members of a community can become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-won-t-compare-ants-and-people-but-ants-give-us-a-useful-model-of/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_i-won-t-compare-ants-and-people-but-ants_609419.png) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over…](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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c7/lewis-thomas-2299_books_we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-th_208086.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) > [My mitochondria comprise a very large proportion of me. I cannot do the calculation, but I suppose there is almost as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/my-mitochondria-comprise-a-very-large-proportion-of-me-i-cannot-do/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/lewis-thomas-2299_bacteria_my-mitochondria-comprise-a-very-large-pr_1656260.jpg) > [We are not like the social insects. They have only the one way of doing things and they will do it forever,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-not-like-the-social-insects-they-have-only-the-one-way-of/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/lewis-thomas-2299_air_we-are-not-like-the-social-insects-they_1611276.jpg) ## Other authors on Way ## 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/way/lewis-thomas/#itemlist", "name": "13 Way Quotes By Lewis Thomas", "numberOfItems": 13, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We have come a long way on that old molecule DNA.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-molecule-dna/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/lewis-thomas-2299_dna_we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-mole_1494913.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/lewis-thomas-2299_dna_we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-mole_1494913.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/lewis-thomas-2299_dna_we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-mole_1494913.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We have come a long way on that old molecule DNA.” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by the act of learning all the way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/lewis-thomas-2299_education_it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-uni_53507.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/lewis-thomas-2299_education_it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-uni_53507.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c32/lewis-thomas-2299_education_it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-uni_53507.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most of all, we need to preserve the absolute unpredictability and total improbability of our connected minds. That way we can keep open all the options, as we have in the past.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/lewis-thomas-2299_agency_the-future-is-too-interesting-and-danger_1602360.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/lewis-thomas-2299_agency_the-future-is-too-interesting-and-danger_1602360.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/lewis-thomas-2299_agency_the-future-is-too-interesting-and-danger_1602360.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. 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We have a wilderness of mystery to make our way through in the centuries ahead.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-do-not-understand-much-of-anything-from-the-big-bang-all-the-way/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/lewis-thomas-2299_atoms_we-do-not-understand-much-of-anything-fr_522745.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/lewis-thomas-2299_atoms_we-do-not-understand-much-of-anything-fr_522745.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/lewis-thomas-2299_atoms_we-do-not-understand-much-of-anything-fr_522745.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We do not understand much of anything, from... the \"big bang\" , all the way down to the particles in the…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We habitually engage in meddling with nature. Until this century most of this meddling was good. Witness the preservation of the European countryside. But since then we've smoked it up and littered it and dumped too much in too many waters. I don't think it's our privilege to behave this way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-habitually-engage-in-meddling-with-nature-until-this-century-most/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/lewis-thomas-2299_behave_we-habitually-engage-in-meddling-with-na_3105638.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/lewis-thomas-2299_behave_we-habitually-engage-in-meddling-with-na_3105638.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/lewis-thomas-2299_behave_we-habitually-engage-in-meddling-with-na_3105638.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We habitually engage in meddling with nature. Until this century most of this meddling was good. 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Sometimes there are ten, even twenty different ways to go, all but one bound to be wrong, and the richness of the selection in such situations can lift us onto totally new ground.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-at-our-human-finest-dancing-with-our-minds-when-there-are-more/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/lewis-thomas-2299_bounds_we-are-at-our-human-finest-dancing-with_2225497.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/lewis-thomas-2299_bounds_we-are-at-our-human-finest-dancing-with_2225497.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/lewis-thomas-2299_bounds_we-are-at-our-human-finest-dancing-with_2225497.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are at our human finest, dancing with our minds, when there are more choices than two. 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At some point I get misled down a garden path, I get surprised by an idea that I hadn't anticipated getting, which is a little bit like being in a laboratory.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/although-i-usually-think-i-know-what-i-m-going-to-be-writing-about/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/lewis-thomas-2299_bits_although-i-usually-think-i-know-what-i-m_2061844.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/lewis-thomas-2299_bits_although-i-usually-think-i-know-what-i-m_2061844.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/lewis-thomas-2299_bits_although-i-usually-think-i-know-what-i-m_2061844.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Although I usually think I know what I'm going to be writing about, what I'm going to say, most of the time…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mistakes are at the very base of human thought, embedded there, feeding the structure like root nodules. If we were not provided with the knack for being wrong, we could never get anything useful done. We think our way along by choosing between right and wrong alternatives, and the wrong choices have to be made as often as the right ones. We get along in life this way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/mistakes-are-at-the-very-base-of-human-thought-embedded-there-feeding/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/lewis-thomas-2299_alternatives_mistakes-are-at-the-very-base-of-human-t_2202450.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/lewis-thomas-2299_alternatives_mistakes-are-at-the-very-base-of-human-t_2202450.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/lewis-thomas-2299_alternatives_mistakes-are-at-the-very-base-of-human-t_2202450.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mistakes are at the very base of human thought, embedded there, feeding the structure like root nodules. If…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I won't compare ants and people, but ants give us a useful model of how single members of a community can become so organized that they end up resembling, in effect, one big collective brain. Our own exploding population and communication technology are leading us that way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-won-t-compare-ants-and-people-but-ants-give-us-a-useful-model-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_i-won-t-compare-ants-and-people-but-ants_609419.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_i-won-t-compare-ants-and-people-but-ants_609419.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_i-won-t-compare-ants-and-people-but-ants_609419.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I won't compare ants and people, but ants give us a useful model of how single members of a community can…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature; we play the music; we change our minds; we reach an understanding. Society evolves this way, not by shouting each other down, but by the unique capacity of unique, individual human beings to comprehend each other.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c7/lewis-thomas-2299_books_we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-th_208086.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c7/lewis-thomas-2299_books_we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-th_208086.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c7/lewis-thomas-2299_books_we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-th_208086.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have been trying to think of the earth as a kind of organism, but it is no go. I cannot think of it this way. It is too big, too complex, with too many working parts lacking visible connections. The other night, driving through a hilly, wooded part of southern New England, I wondered about this. If not like an organism, what is it like, what is it most like? Then, satisfactorily for that moment, it came to me: it is most like a single cell", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-have-been-trying-to-think-of-the-earth-as-a-kind-of-organism-but-it/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/lewis-thomas-2299_bigs_i-have-been-trying-to-think-of-the-earth_2777746.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/lewis-thomas-2299_bigs_i-have-been-trying-to-think-of-the-earth_2777746.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/lewis-thomas-2299_bigs_i-have-been-trying-to-think-of-the-earth_2777746.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have been trying to think of the earth as a kind of organism, but it is no go. I cannot think of it this…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My mitochondria comprise a very large proportion of me. I cannot do the calculation, but I suppose there is almost as much of them in sheer dry bulk as there is the rest of me. Looked at in this way, I could be taken for a very large, motile colony of respiring bacteria, operating a complex system of nuclei, microtubules, and neurons for the pleasure and sustenance of their families, and running, at the moment, a typewriter.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/my-mitochondria-comprise-a-very-large-proportion-of-me-i-cannot-do/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/lewis-thomas-2299_bacteria_my-mitochondria-comprise-a-very-large-pr_1656260.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/lewis-thomas-2299_bacteria_my-mitochondria-comprise-a-very-large-pr_1656260.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c1/lewis-thomas-2299_bacteria_my-mitochondria-comprise-a-very-large-pr_1656260.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My mitochondria comprise a very large proportion of me. I cannot do the calculation, but I suppose there is…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are not like the social insects. They have only the one way of doing things and they will do it forever, coded for that way. We are coded differently, not just for binary choices, go or no-go. We can go four ways at once, depending on how the air feels: go, no-go, but also maybe, plus what the hell let's give it a try.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-not-like-the-social-insects-they-have-only-the-one-way-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/lewis-thomas-2299_air_we-are-not-like-the-social-insects-they_1611276.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/lewis-thomas-2299_air_we-are-not-like-the-social-insects-they_1611276.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f64/lewis-thomas-2299_air_we-are-not-like-the-social-insects-they_1611276.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are not like the social insects. They have only the one way of doing things and they will do it forever…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/lewis-thomas/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/lewis-thomas/", "name": "Way Quotes by Lewis Thomas", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/lewis-thomas/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/lewis-thomas-2299_dna_we-have-come-a-long-way-on-that-old-mole_1494913.png" }, "description": "13 Way quotes by Lewis Thomas. 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