Sam Kean Quotes
Cancer is really a DNA disease... We have these certain genes that prevent our cells from growing out of control at the expense of the body. And it's a pretty good, robust system. But if a couple of these genes fail, then that's when cancer starts, and cells start growing out of control.
Quotes to Explore
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People said, 'How could you walk away from music?' But being a dad - there's nothing that can touch that.
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I don't have any problem with being the guy whose album people put on when they're feeling sad.
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I like the fact that Austin's the first place I've ever lived where there's a real sense of community. People care about their neighbors.
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Today's designers don't care if fashion has no relationship to human anatomy.
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I never smoked. I never drank and I never took drugs. The funny thing is, nothing is more boring, people like this. For me, it's OK. But most of my friends, at least they smoke and drink.
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Helping out in your kid's classroom is a great way to get involved with your child's school.
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Although some secrecy is odious, some is essential just to preserve our sense of self.
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When I was in high school in the early 1970s, we knew we were running out of oil; we knew that easy sources were being capped; we knew that diversifying would be much better; we knew that there were terrible dictators and horrible governments that we were enriching who hated us. We knew all that and we did really nothing.
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There's no problem with fans and bands. There's a problem with the economics of the outside disruption of the industry.
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In writing a series of stories about the same characters, plan the whole series in advance in some detail, to avoid contradictions and inconsistencies.
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I am suspicious of writers who go looking for issues to address. Writers are neither preachers nor journalists. Journalists know much more than most writers about what's going on in the world. And if you want to change things, you do journalism.
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College dropouts with significant debt struggle with repayment over the course of their lives and do not receive the benefits afforded to their peers who have debt but obtain higher-paying jobs as a result of college completion.
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My whole life is a theater piece.
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My parents were ordinary people; we lived in a small apartment.
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I believe in Karma. If the good is sown, the good is collected. When positive things are made, that returns well.
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The handwriting on the wall may be a forgery.
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When I watch a movie for the first few times I'm usually thinking about where I was in a given scene, who was next to me, what we were doing etc. But after I've gotten through all of this, when I'm really watching the film itself, then I get moved.
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The L.A Trilogy is a series of three novels starring Ray, a robot detective, and his boss, a computer called Googol. Set in an alternative version of 1960s Los Angeles, each book will be more or less standalone but together will form an overarching story arc with 'Brisk Money' as the origin story.
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'Man is born unto the trouble as the sparks fly upwards.' In other words suffering is germane to our existence; indeed, how without it, should we be able to 'fly upwards'.
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People always ask what my inspiration is, and it's never something that's easily explained.
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Architecture is not merely national but clearly has local ties in that it is rooted in the earth.
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'The Count' wasn't a real stretch. I was doing pretty generic Bela Lugosi bad vampire on purpose. It was supposed to be lame. I didn't put fangs on; it was a guy who was just going through the motions. I drew on the widow's peak with eyebrow pencil and wore a turtleneck, not a tux.
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Play is under attack in our nation's schools - and shrinking recess periods are only part of the problem. Homework is increasing. Cities are building new schools without playgrounds. Safety concerns are prompting bans of tag, soccer, and even running on the schoolyard.
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Cancer is really a DNA disease... We have these certain genes that prevent our cells from growing out of control at the expense of the body. And it's a pretty good, robust system. But if a couple of these genes fail, then that's when cancer starts, and cells start growing out of control.
