I have an idealistic view of science as a liberalising and progressive force for humanity.

I was never very good at exams, having a poor memory and finding the examination process rather artificial, and there never seemed to be enough time to follow up things that really interested me.

I was by far the youngest of the family, and at times it was like being an only child.

I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science.

My parents were neither wealthy nor academic, but we lived comfortably and they were always extremely supportive of my academic efforts and aspirations, both at school and university.

At age 11 in 1960, I moved to an academic state secondary school, Harrow County Grammar School for Boys.

Scientific understanding is often beautiful, a profoundly aesthetic experience which gives pleasure not unlike the reading of a great poem.

This possibility bothered me as I thought it was not advisable to remain in one academic environment, and the long dark winters in Edinburgh could be rather dismal.

I am still a keen mountain walker and an enthusiastic glider pilot.

During the winter my attention was attracted to the changes in the stars and planets in the sky.

After an extensive interview he arranged for my weaknesses in foreign languages to be over-looked and so I started a Biology degree at Birmingham in 1967.

Transform soul, change spirit.

Those who hate lawyers, have either hired the wrong one and lost, represented themselves and lost, or had such a bad case that no lawyer could win it.

If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?

There has been great excitement at the prospect that this atomic bomb or atomic energy is likely to produce great industrial energy very quickly, I do not believe it at all.

It is the beginning of all true criticism of our time to realize that it has really nothing to say, at the very moment when it has invented so tremendous a trumpet for saying it.

Bones has always been smart," I muttered. "His intelligence was just camouflaged under a mountain of p**sy." Cat

I wanted to, you know, get my story out in the world, which, it turns out, is a very misguided notion.

I do believe that one way to have a destiny is to choose one.

[Cus D'Amato] told me, 'You're the type of guy who has to be hurt to learn.' I'm pissed off today because he was right about everything.

My dad has always taught me these words: care and share. That's why we put on clinics. The only thing I can do is try to give back. If it works, it works.