--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Scientists have one thing in common with…" description: "\"Scientists have one thing in common with children: curiosity. To be a good scientist you must have kept this trait of childhood, and perhaps it is not ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/otto-robert-frisch-74162_childhood_scientists-have-one-thing-in-common-with_1846730.png" --- # Scientists have one thing in common with children… ![“Scientists have one thing in common with children: curiosity. To be a good scientist you must have kept this trait of childhood, and perhaps it is not easy to retain just one trait. A scientist has to be curious like a child; perhaps one can understand that there are other childish features he…” quote by Otto Robert Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/otto-robert-frisch-74162_childhood_scientists-have-one-thing-in-common-with_1846730.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/otto-robert-frisch-74162_childhood_scientists-have-one-thing-in-common-with_1846730.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/otto-robert-frisch-74162_childhood_scientists-have-one-thing-in-common-with_1846730.png) > “Scientists have one thing in common with children: curiosity. To be a good scientist you must have kept this trait of childhood, and perhaps it is not easy to retain just one trait. A scientist has to be curious like a child; perhaps one can understand that there are other childish features he hasn't grown out of.” Otto Robert Frisch ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientists must retain childlike curiosity, as it fuels discovery, even if other youthful traits fade. **In simple terms:** Curiosity drives scientific progress. Key Takeaway Nurture curiosity like a child. Themes curiosity learning innovation Mood inquisitive optimistic Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - education - research labs - STEM mentorship Key Concepts developmental psychology scientific method Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep curiosity alive in your work? - What childlike habits aid scientific thinking? A Different Perspective Curiosity can be stifled by rigid structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) ## Related quotes > [In an era of parental paranoia, lawsuit mania and testing frenzy, we are failing to inspire our children's curiosity, creativity, and imagination. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darell-hammond/in-an-era-of-parental-paranoia-lawsuit-mania-and-testing-frenzy-we/) [Darell Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darell-hammond/) > [Children whose curiosity survives parental discipline and who manage to grow up before they blow up are invited to join the Yale faculty. 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A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/a-good-scientist-is-a-person-with-original-ideas-a-good-engineer-is-a/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Philosophers often think all scientists must be scientific realists. If you ask a simple question like "Are electrons real?" the answer will be "Yes".…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bas-van-fraassen/philosophers-often-think-all-scientists-must-be-scientific-realists/) Bas van Fraassen > [Scepticism is as important for a good journalist as it is for a good scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/scepticism-is-as-important-for-a-good-journalist-as-it-is-for-a-good/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [A good scientist is a person in whom the childhood quality of perennial curiosity lingers on. Once he gets an answer, he has other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-seitz/a-good-scientist-is-a-person-in-whom-the-childhood-quality-of/) [Frederick Seitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-seitz/) > [You make sure you broaden yourself and have a good solid background in many different things. That's what you need to be a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-hammel/you-make-sure-you-broaden-yourself-and-have-a-good-solid-background/) [Heidi Hammel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-hammel/) > [“There was a relentless forward motion to the man. The universe might knock him down over and over again, but unless he was dead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/there-was-a-relentless-forward-motion-to-the-man-the-universe-might/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [A good scientist can understand the current state of a field, pick interesting questions where a success will actually lead to useful new knowledge,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mason/a-good-scientist-can-understand-the-current-state-of-a-field-pick/) [Hilary Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mason/) > [I have a long attention span, and I am also a good scientist, and there are a lot of problems that remain in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-lerner/i-have-a-long-attention-span-and-i-am-also-a-good-scientist-and-there/) [Sandra Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-lerner/) > [I should never have made a good scientist, but I should have made a perfectly adequate one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/i-should-never-have-made-a-good-scientist-but-i-should-have-made-a/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [“You should prefer a good scientist without literary abilities than a literate one without scientific skills.” Andrew”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jody-swarbrick/you-should-prefer-a-good-scientist-without-literary-abilities-than-a/) [Jody Swarbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jody-swarbrick/) > [A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/a-good-traveler-has-no-fixed-plans-and-is-not-intent-upon-arriving-a/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) ## More by Otto Robert Frisch > [“We walked up and down in the snow, I on skis and she on foot ( she said and proved that she could get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-robert-frisch/we-walked-up-and-down-in-the-snow-i-on-skis-and-she-on-foot-she-said/) Otto Robert Frisch > [ We \[Frisch and Lise Meitner\] walked up and down in the snow, I on skis and she on foot (she said and proved that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-robert-frisch/we-frisch-and-lise-meitner-walked-up-and-down-in-the-snow-i-on-skis/) Otto Robert Frisch > [Today we no longer ask what really goes on in an atom; we ask what is likely to be observed-and with what likelihood-when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-robert-frisch/today-we-no-longer-ask-what-really-goes-on-in-an-atom-we-ask-what-is/) Otto Robert Frisch Explore all 4 Otto Robert Frisch quotes ## More Childhood quotes > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. 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Foster homes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-had-a-rough-upbringing-group-homes-foster-homes/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [When I talk about my childhood I used to say it as if it was scripted and I'd make jokes because it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-katona/when-i-talk-about-my-childhood-i-used-to-say-it-as-if-it-was-scripted/) [Kerry Katona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-katona/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. 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It was a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/i-m-not-sure-i-would-have-ever-started-to-draw-let-alone-write-if-my/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) [Browse all 5,837 Childhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Scientists have one thing in common with children: curiosity. To be a good scientist you must have kept this trait of childhood, and perhaps it is not easy to retain just one trait. 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