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Francis Collins Quotes
Francis Collins Quotes
Francis Collins
American
Scientist
Born:
Apr 14
,
1950
Been
Faith
God
People
Think
You
Related authors:
Ben Carson
Carl Sagan
E. O. Wilson
George Washington Carver
Isaac Asimov
Margaret Mead
Neil deGrasse Tyson
W. Edwards Deming
Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind. You have to hear the music, not just read the notes on the page.
Francis Collins
Music
Faith
You
Mind
Think
Plus
Spirit
Part
Well
Read
Revelation
Hear
Just
Notes
Page
Requires
Reason
I became an atheist because, as a graduate student studying quantum physics, life seemed to be reducible to second-order differential equations. Mathematics, chemistry and physics had it all. And I didn't see any need to go beyond that.
Francis Collins
Life
Mathematics
Atheist
Physics
Chemistry
See
Seemed
Student
Had
Studying
Beyond
Became
Because
Quantum
Equations
Quantum Physics
Go
Graduate
Any
Graduate Student
Differential
Need
God gave us free will, and we may choose to exercise it in ways that end up hurting other people.
Francis Collins
God
People
Will
Free
Free Will
Other
Gave
Ways
Hurting
Exercise
End
Up
May
Us
Choose
I actually do not believe that there are any collisions between what I believe as a Christian, and what I know and have learned about as a scientist. I think there's a broad perception that that's the case, and that's what scares many scientists away from a serious consideration of faith.
Francis Collins
Faith
Perception
Believe
Christian
Think
Broad
Consideration
Scares
About
Case
Between
Know
Learned
Scientist
Scientists
Any
Many
Serious
Away
Actually
I'm a pretty informal guy. I ride a Harley.
Francis Collins
Ride
Pretty
Guy
Informal
Harley
I believe in the literal rising of the body of Christ. It's the cornerstone of my Christian faith.
Francis Collins
Faith
Christ
Believe
Christian
Cornerstone
Rising
Literal
Body
Christian Faith
A cardinal principle that we must not stray from - no exceptions - is that your genetic information is your business in terms of who sees it. Nobody should be gaining access to that information without your explicit permission, and nobody should be requiring you to take a genetic test unless you decide that that's what you want to do.
Francis Collins
You
Business
Unless
Must
Sees
Exceptions
Take
Nobody
Genetic
Terms
Principle
Without
Access
Permission
Test
Want
Decide
Information
Gaining
Explicit
Should
Requiring
Your
Who
Stray
Cardinal
Genes are effectively one-dimensional. If you write down the sequence of A, C, G and T, that's kind of what you need to know about that gene. But proteins are three-dimensional. They have to be because we are three-dimensional, and we're made of those proteins. Otherwise we'd all sort of be linear, unimaginably weird creatures.
Francis Collins
You
Made
Down
Otherwise
Those
Kind
One-Dimensional
Three-Dimensional
About
Gene
Write
Weird
Genes
Know
Sort
Proteins
Because
Linear
Effectively
Sequence
Creatures
Need
The brain is the most complicated organ in the universe. We have learned a lot about other human organs. We know how the heart pumps and how the kidney does what it does. To a certain degree, we have read the letters of the human genome. But the brain has 100 billion neurons. Each one of those has about 10,000 connections.
Francis Collins
Heart
Complicated
Degree
Organ
Universe
Other
Those
Kidney
About
Neurons
Know
Most
Genome
Read
Learned
Does
How
Brain
Lot
Human
Certain
Certain Degree
Billion
Organs
Connections
Each
Each One
Letters
I think history would say that medical research has, throughout many changes of parties, remained as one of the shining lights of bipartisan agreement, that people are concerned about health for themselves, for their families, for their constituents.
Francis Collins
Health
History
People
Research
Think
Changes
Say
Would
Constituents
About
Remained
Throughout
Lights
Parties
Concerned
Shining
Families
Themselves
Many
Agreement
Medical
Medical Research
Bipartisan
I trained initially as a physical chemist, and then, after becoming interested in biology, I went to medical school and learned how to be a physician. So, I'm a physician scientist.
Francis Collins
School
Physician
Biology
Physical
Learned
Becoming
How
Chemist
Scientist
Trained
After
Interested
Then
Initially
Medical
Medical School
So much of what we are currently seeing as far as human suffering and misery comes from diseases that should have been preventable but were not.
Francis Collins
Suffering
Seeing
Preventable
Misery
Were
Been
Diseases
Human
Currently
As Far As
Far
Much
Should
Human Suffering
I don't have a problem with the concept that miracles might occasionally occur at moments of great significance, where there is a message being transmitted to us by God Almighty. But as a scientist, I set my standards for miracles very high.
Francis Collins
God
Great
Problem
Miracles
Significance
High
Almighty
Concept
Message
Occasionally
Occur
Scientist
God Almighty
Very
Being
Where
Might
Us
Transmitted
Standards
Moments
Set
A technological advance of a major sort almost always is overestimated in the short run for its consequences - and underestimated in the long run.
Francis Collins
Long
Consequences
Run
Long Run
Advance
Almost
Major
Underestimated
Sort
Overestimated
Always
Short
Technological
I'm enormously interested to see where neuroscience can take us in understanding these complexities of the human brain and how it works, but I do think there may be limits in terms of what science can tell us about what does good and evil mean anyway, and what are those concepts about?
Francis Collins
Good
Science
Good And Evil
Evil
Understanding
Think
Those
Complexities
Tell
See
About
Neuroscience
Take
Terms
Concepts
Does
How
Limits
Brain
May
Human
Where
Human Brain
Anyway
Interested
Mean
Us
Works
A virus is not just DNA; a virus is also packaged up, covered over with a series of proteins in a nice, elegant, well-compacted form.
Francis Collins
Nice
Virus
Over
Also
Proteins
Covered
Up
Just
Form
Packaged
Series
Elegant
Growing up, I was vaguely aware of things that went on in church, because I was in the boys' choir at the local Episcopal church. But I got the clear message that I was supposed to learn music there, and not pay too much attention to the rest of it, and I followed those instructions very carefully.
Francis Collins
Music
Too Much
Church
Rest
Pay
Carefully
Too
Local
Those
Followed
Clear
Clear Message
Attention
Supposed
Instructions
Message
Learn
Because
Boy
Got
Up
Very
Episcopal
Much
Much Attention
Choir
Growing
Growing Up
Aware
Things
Vaguely
I finished up my graduate degree in quantum mechanics, but underwent a bit of a personal crisis, recognizing that I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. It was too abstract, too far removed from human concerns.
Francis Collins
Life
Rest
Degree
My Life
Finished
Too
Bit
Crisis
Recognizing
Abstract
Concerns
Quantum
Quantum Mechanics
Underwent
Up
Personal
Graduate
Graduate Degree
Human
Want
Far
Mechanics
If I'm walking down the riverbank, and a man is drowning, even if I don't know how to swim very well, I feel this urge that the right thing to do is to try to save that person. Evolution would tell me exactly the opposite: preserve your DNA. Who cares about the guy who's drowning?
Francis Collins
Me
Man
Try
Down
Cares
Right Thing
Evolution
Tell
Would
Exactly
About
Guy
Feel
Drowning
Know
Well
How
Opposite
Very
Walking
Person
The Right Thing
Urge
Your
Who
Who Cares
Swim
Even
Right
Thing
Preserve
Save
For delightfully quirky descriptions of bizarre neurological syndromes that teach us a lot about how the brain works, there is no match for Oliver Sacks.
Francis Collins
Bizarre
About
Neurological
Match
How
Brain
Lot
Quirky
Us
Teach
Works
Descriptions
Oliver
I'm always feeling like I'm lacking wisdom. This reassurance that one can ask God for that and it will happen is certainly reassuring to me.
Francis Collins
Wisdom
God
Me
Will
Feeling
Like
Always
Lacking
Happen
Ask
Certainly
Reassurance
Reassuring
I'm a serious Christian. I take my faith seriously. I try to practice it every day of the week, not just on Sunday.
Francis Collins
Faith
Day
Every Day
Try
Seriously
Sunday
Practice
Christian
Every
Week
Take
Just
Serious
I've never heard God speak out loud to me. That's not an experience I have had.
Francis Collins
God
Me
Experience
Speak
Out
Never
Had
Heard
Loud
We give our kids vaccinations. That's a biological enhancement that's considered not just acceptable but actually admirable.
Francis Collins
Our
Considered
Kids
Admirable
Give
Acceptable
Just
Enhancement
Actually
Biological
I think there are people who's lives have been saved because of the study of the genome.
Francis Collins
People
Think
Saved
Study
Genome
Because
Been
Lives
The word 'living' has so many connotations that I'm almost reluctant to try to define it scientifically because it sounds as if I'm then downgrading all the other significances of that word.
Francis Collins
Try
Word
Living
Other
Define
Reluctant
Almost
Because
Scientifically
Sounds
Then
Many
Connotations
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