--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I cannot think of a single field in…" description: "\"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 ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png" --- # I cannot think of a single field in biology or medicine in… ![“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.” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/lewis-thomas-2299_biology_i-cannot-think-of-a-single-field-in-biol_898106.png) > “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.” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our knowledge of biology is limited; deeper study reveals more mystery, highlighting life's complexity and wonder. **In simple terms:** We know less than we think. Key Takeaway Embrace scientific humility. Themes science humility wonder Mood curious humble Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - research labs - education - public science communication Key Concepts epistemology complex systems Questions to Reflect On - What does this uncertainty inspire? - How can we balance curiosity and humility? A Different Perspective Complexity can be overwhelming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Especially Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/especially-stranger-1214614/) [Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fields/) [Genuine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine/) [Genuine Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine-understanding-1214615/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-creatures/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) [Stranger Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger-life-1018255/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [If we could allow the pace of our meetings to slow down to the pace of our hearts, we might find genuine understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-woodman/if-we-could-allow-the-pace-of-our-meetings-to-slow-down-to-the-pace/) [Marion Woodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-woodman/) > [Real education is about genuine understanding and the ability to figure things out on your own; not about making sure every 7th grader has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-swartz/real-education-is-about-genuine-understanding-and-the-ability-to/) [Aaron Swartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-swartz/) > [“We often mistakenly assume that because someone has genuine understanding in one particular area, this mastery necessarily extends to all other areas of life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goldstein/we-often-mistakenly-assume-that-because-someone-has-genuine/) [Joseph Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goldstein/) > [Respect does not mean absence of disrespect, but a genuine understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/respect-does-not-mean-absence-of-disrespect-but-a-genuine/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [I woke up as the sun was reddening; and that was the one distinct time in my life, the strangest moment of all, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-woke-up-as-the-sun-was-reddening-and-that-was-the-one-distinct-time/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“I'm a stranger in my own life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lang-leav/i-m-a-stranger-in-my-own-life/) [Lang Leav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lang-leav/) > [“Maybe it was just my life, my strange and always stranger life, taking all the life out of me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/maybe-it-was-just-my-life-my-strange-and-always-stranger-life-taking/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“She was a stranger in her own life, a tourist in her own body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-de-la-cruz/she-was-a-stranger-in-her-own-life-a-tourist-in-her-own-body/) [Melissa de la Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-de-la-cruz/) > [Only within the 20th Century has biological thought been focused on ecology, or the relation of the living creature to its environment. 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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/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Biology quotes > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [“Genetics is a science full of gods, Mr. Sanchez.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valeria-luiselli/genetics-is-a-science-full-of-gods-mr-sanchez/) [Valeria Luiselli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valeria-luiselli/) > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Evolution happens in jumps, very rapidly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/evolution-happens-in-jumps-very-rapidly/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [“Toshiaki learned that all living organisms were governed by their DNA. He was impressed by perfection of this system.Why did existence have the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hideaki-sena/toshiaki-learned-that-all-living-organisms-were-governed-by-their-dna/) [Hideaki Sena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hideaki-sena/) > [I'm all about evolution. I'm the first person to judge myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/i-m-all-about-evolution-i-m-the-first-person-to-judge-myself/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I think the ethics and morals of genetic engineering are very complicated. It intrigues me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spottiswoode/i-think-the-ethics-and-morals-of-genetic-engineering-are-very/) [Roger Spottiswoode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spottiswoode/) > [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/) [Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/) > [“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially superpose historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/a-note-of-caution-epigenetics-is-also-on-the-verge-of-transforming/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [Natural history is not taught in seminary. 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