In fact, death seems to have been a rather late invention in evolution. One can go a long way in evolution before encountering an authentic corpse.
George WaldRead
We are the products of editing, rather than of authorship.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that our identities and creations are shaped by external influences rather than solely by our own efforts.
George Wald's quote underscores the idea that who we are and what we create is significantly shaped by the influences and modifications we encounter throughout our lives. It highlights the importance of experiences, interactions, and external judgments in the process of self-creation and expression, suggesting that authenticity is a collaborative and evolving process rather than a solitary act of authorship.
Themes
EditingAuthorshipIdentityInfluenceCreation
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speech about how life experiences shape personal growth.
More from George Wald
All quotes βI have lived much of my life among molecules. They are good company. I tell my students to try to know molecules, so well that when they have some question involving molecules, they can ask themselves, What would I do if I were that molecule? I tell them, Try to feel like a molecule; and if you work hard, who knows? Some day you may get to feel like a big molecule!
George WaldRead
Our challenge is to give what account we can of what becomes of life in the solar system, this corner of the universe that is our home; and, most of all, what becomes of men-all men, of all nations, colors, and creeds. This has become one world, a world for all men. It is only such a world that can now offer us life, and the chance to go on.
George WaldRead
Evolution advances, not by a priori design, but by the selection of what works best out of whatever choices offer. We are the products of editing, rather than of authorship.
George WaldRead
Nuclear weapons offer us nothing but a balance of terror, and a balance of terror is still terror.
George WaldRead
I think if a physician wrote on a death certificate that old age was the cause of death, he'd be thrown out of the union. There is always some final event, some failure of an organ, some last attack of pneumonia, that finishes off a life. No one dies of old age.
George WaldRead
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