Michael Specter Quotes

39 quotes in 840 categories

• People wrap themselves in their beliefs. And they do it in such a way that you can't set them free. Not even the truth will…
• Be sceptical, ask questions, demand proof. Demand evidence. Don't take anything for granted. But here's the thing: When you get proof, you need to accept…
• We are inhabited by as many as ten thousand bacterial species; these cells outnumber those which we consider our own by ten to one, and…
• The passengers in our microbiome contain at least four million genes, and they work constantly on our behalf: they manufacture vitamins and patrol our guts…
• If left untreated, Lyme disease can be crippling, yet it is a difficult illness to contract: a tick needs to attach itself to your body…
• I moved from Moscow to Rome with my family and two bicycles in 1998, and spent a lot of that year- and the next -…
• Even a two-degree climb in average global temperatures could cause crop failures in parts of the world that can least afford to lose the nourishment.…
• Although it may seem callous to say so, millions of Americans are lucky that Magic Johnson was infected with H.I.V. There is no way of…
• One morning every spring, for exactly two minutes, Israel comes to a stop. Pedestrians stand in place, drivers pull over to the side of the…
• Much of modern molecular biology and microbiology has been based on the effort to decipher the basic code of life, which is made up of…
• I have covered wars, before the epidemic began and since. They are all ugly and painful and unjust, but for me, nothing has matched the…
• Why do people refuse to vaccinate their children against measles or whooping cough? In many cases, because they have never seen measles and have no…
• It is not possible to assert publicly that Monsanto is anything other than venal without being accused of being a sellout, a fraud, or worse.
• If caught early, Lyme is easily treated with antibiotics. But activists, and many researchers, have long contended that tens of thousands of people remain unaware…
• The numbers matter: underreporting of Lyme disease obscures the true burden of the illnesses, on individuals as well as on health-care systems. It also makes…
• There has never been a verified scientific report that chelation therapy, a gluten-free diet, or anything else can cure autism.
• Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in the United States, and the incidence is growing rapidly. In 2009, the C.D.C. reported thirty-eight…
• The history of agriculture is the history of humans breeding seeds and animals to produce traits we want in our crops and livestock.
• All the food we eat, whether Brussels sprouts or pork bellies, has been modified by mankind. Genetic engineering is only one particularly powerful way to…
• Industrial agriculture freed many people to pursue lives their parents and grandparents could never have. It made America modern.

Browse Michael Specter Quotes by Category