John B. S. Haldane Quotes

United Kingdom, Scientist
November 5, 1892 – December, 1, 1964.

John Burdon Sanderson Haldane FRS (/ˈhɔːldeɪn/; 5 November 1892 – 1 December 1964) was an English scientist known for his work in the study of physiology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and in mathematics, where he made innovative contributions to the fields of statistics and biostatistics. He was the son of the equally famous John Scott Haldane and was a professed socialist, Marxist, atheist, and humanist whose political dissent led him to leave England in 1956 and live in India, becoming a naturalised Indian citizen in 1961.

And if we must educate our poets and artists in science, we must educate our masters, labour and capital, in art.

John B. S. Haldane
- Art
- Science
My own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.

John B. S. Haldane
- Universe

In fact, words are well adapted for description and the arousing of emotion, but for many kinds of precise thought other symbols are much better.

John B. S. Haldane
- Words
Until politics are a branch of science we shall do well to regard political and social reforms as experiments rather than short-cuts to the millennium.

John B. S. Haldane
- Science
- Political
If one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of his creation it would appear that God has a special fondness for stars and beetles.

John B. S. Haldane
- God
- Nature
- Study
We do not know, in most cases, how far social failure and success are due to heredity, and how far to environment. But environment is the easier of the two to improve.

John B. S. Haldane
Would I lay down my life to save my brother? No, but I would to save two brothers or eight cousins.

John B. S. Haldane
- Life
- Brother
I have never yet met a healthy person who worried very much about his health, or a really good person who worried much about his own soul.

John B. S. Haldane
- Good
- Soul
- Health

There can be no truce between science and religion.

John B. S. Haldane
- Science
A fairly bright boy is far more intelligent and far better company than the average adult.

John B. S. Haldane
- Boy
- Intelligent
I wish I had the voice of Homer to sing of rectal carcinoma.

John B. S. Haldane
- Wish
I think, however, that so long as our present economic and national systems continue, scientific research has little to fear.

John B. S. Haldane
- Long
- Fear
- Present
It is my supposition that the Universe in not only queerer than we imagine, is queerer than we can imagine.

John B. S. Haldane
- Universe
While I do not suggest that humanity will ever be able to dispense with its martyrs, I cannot avoid the suspicion that with a little more thought and a little less belief their number may be substantially reduced.

John B. S. Haldane
- May
- Humanity

There is no great invention, from fire to flying, which has not been hailed as an insult to some god.

John B. S. Haldane
- Great
- God
- Fire
To the biologist the problem of socialism appears largely as a problem of size.

John B. S. Haldane
The extreme socialists desire to run every nation as a single business concern.

John B. S. Haldane
- Business
- Desire
- Single
The wise man regulates his conduct by the theories both of religion and science. But he regards these theories not as statements of ultimate fact but as art-forms.

John B. S. Haldane
- Art
- Science
- Wise