--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How far would people get in physics if…" description: "\"How far would people get in physics if discovery was described as disgusting - \"Your formula is disgusting and filthy\"? Not very far.\" — William S. Bur..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/william-s-burroughs-528_discovery_how-far-would-people-get-in-physics-if-d_1358265.jpg" --- # How far would people get in physics if discovery was… ![“How far would people get in physics if discovery was described as disgusting - "Your formula is disgusting and filthy"? Not very far.” quote by William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/william-s-burroughs-528_discovery_how-far-would-people-get-in-physics-if-d_1358265.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/william-s-burroughs-528_discovery_how-far-would-people-get-in-physics-if-d_1358265.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/william-s-burroughs-528_discovery_how-far-would-people-get-in-physics-if-d_1358265.jpg) > “How far would people get in physics if discovery was described as disgusting - "Your formula is disgusting and filthy"? Not very far.” [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Posits that negative language about scientific work hinders progress. **In simple terms:** Harsh criticism stalls physics discovery. Key Takeaway Use constructive feedback. Themes science communication progress Mood thoughtful critical Type scientific educational When to use this quote - research labs - peer review - education - public outreach Key Concepts psychology linguistics Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape scientific morale? - What alternatives to harsh critique exist? A Different Perspective May underestimate tough critique. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Described Disgusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/described-disgusting-4640212/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Disgusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgusting/) [Disgusting Filthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgusting-filthy-2056545/) [Disgusting Formula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgusting-formula-4640211/) [Filthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filthy/) [Formula Disgusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formula-disgusting-4640210/) [Formulas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formulas/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) ## Related quotes > [Well, "disgusting" doesn't refer to the books but to the subjective reaction of the person making the complaint. I don't think that anything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/well-disgusting-doesn-t-refer-to-the-books-but-to-the-subjective/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [Good God, man, what is that smell?" He eyed with disgust the doctor's filthy cloak. "Life," answered the doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/good-god-man-what-is-that-smell-he-eyed-with-disgust-the-doctor-s/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [I saw Vicente Fox use the word that he used. I can only tell you, if I would have used even half of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-saw-vicente-fox-use-the-word-that-he-used-i-can-only-tell-you-if-i/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [If we had reverence for our life, our life would take at once religious form. But as it is, in our filthy irreverence, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-we-had-reverence-for-our-life-our-life-would-take-at-once/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hateful-day-when-i-received-life-i-exclaimed-in-agony-accursed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A doctor is not criticized for describing the manifestations and symptoms of an illness, even though the symptoms may be disgusting. I feel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/a-doctor-is-not-criticized-for-describing-the-manifestations-and/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“No matter how dirty, how filthy, how contaminated you are inside, I still love you. And since I feel that way about you, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rihito-takarai/no-matter-how-dirty-how-filthy-how-contaminated-you-are-inside-i/) [Rihito Takarai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rihito-takarai/) > [Thank God that at this hour I am dangerous to the war profiteers of this country who rob the people on the one hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-richards-o-hare/thank-god-that-at-this-hour-i-am-dangerous-to-the-war-profiteers-of/) [Kate Richards O'Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-richards-o-hare/) > [Every child was taught from his cradle that money was Mammon, the chief agent of the flesh and the devil. As he grew up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-harding-davis/every-child-was-taught-from-his-cradle-that-money-was-mammon-the/) [Rebecca Harding Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-harding-davis/) > [In harmony with the Tao, the sky is clear and spacious, the earth is solid and full, all creature flourish together, content with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-harmony-with-the-tao-the-sky-is-clear-and-spacious-the-earth-is/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [A woman with cut hair is a filthy spectacle, and much like a monsterit being natural and comely to women to nourish their hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-prynne/a-woman-with-cut-hair-is-a-filthy-spectacle-and-much-like-a-monsterit/) [William Prynne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-prynne/) > [Much of the same sort of degraded and filthy talk can still be heard among the orc-minded; dreary and repetitive with hatred and contempt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/much-of-the-same-sort-of-degraded-and-filthy-talk-can-still-be-heard/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [Jared glared. Some people, Kami knew, had bedroom eyes. She was saddened to have to admit that Jared had filthy alleyway eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/jared-glared-some-people-kami-knew-had-bedroom-eyes-she-was-saddened/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [“Show me a filthy public restroom and I’ll show you a society where discipline and order have broken down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lourd-ernest-h-de-veyra/show-me-a-filthy-public-restroom-and-i-ll-show-you-a-society-where/) [Lourd Ernest H. de Veyra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lourd-ernest-h-de-veyra/) > [No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That's because there isn't any difference. The idea of clones being inferior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-farmer/no-one-can-tell-the-difference-between-a-clone-and-a-human-that-s/) [Nancy Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-farmer/) ## More by William S. Burroughs > [“Control never be a means to any practical end. It can never be a means to anything but more control… Like punk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/control-never-be-a-means-to-any-practical-end-it-can-never-be-a-means/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“Well as, one judge said to the other, 'Be just and if you can't be just be arbitrary.' Regret cannot observe customary obscenities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/well-as-one-judge-said-to-the-other-be-just-and-if-you-can-t-be-just/) [William S. 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And to pretend that you write or paint in a timeless vacuum is just simply . . . not .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/life-is-a-cutup-and-to-pretend-that-you-write-or-paint-in-a-timeless/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [When all lies, deceit, pretense is stripped away, what remains? The truth of a painting, or a book or a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/when-all-lies-deceit-pretense-is-stripped-away-what-remains-the-truth/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“There is no final enough of wisdom, experience - any fucking thing. No Holy Grail, No Final Satori, no solution. Just conflict. Only thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/there-is-no-final-enough-of-wisdom-experience-any-fucking-thing-no/) [William S. 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Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/there-couldn-t-be-a-society-of-people-who-didn-t-dream-they-d-be-dead/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [I prefer cats to people, for the most part. Most people aren't cute at all, and if they are cute they very rapidly outgrow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/i-prefer-cats-to-people-for-the-most-part-most-people-aren-t-cute-at/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [ \[Arab peoples\] are stuck back thousands of years and they think they're going to get out with a TV set. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/arab-peoples-are-stuck-back-thousands-of-years-and-they-think-they-re/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“It is not the intensity but the duration of pain that breaks the will to resist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/it-is-not-the-intensity-but-the-duration-of-pain-that-breaks-the-will/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) [Explore all 484 William S. Burroughs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) ## More Discovery quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Throughout my work, I have assumed that the standard model is correct, and hence, the Higgs boson should be found. 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Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planets and set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/we-cannot-predict-the-new-forces-powers-and-discoveries-that-will-be/) [Arthur C. 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Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“In December of 2007 human bones including skulls, which have been radiocarbon dated back to between 1304 and 1424, were found in a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/in-december-of-2007-human-bones-including-skulls-which-have-been/) [Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/) > [The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-european-talks-of-progress-because-by-the-aid-of-a-few-scientific/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/education-is-a-progressive-discovery-of-our-own-ignorance/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. 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