102 Quotes by Jonas Salk

"There is a moment of conception and a moment of birth, but between them there is a long period of gestation."

"As a bio-philosopher - as someone who draws upon the scriptures of nature, recognizing that we are the product of the process of evolution, and in a sense, we have become the process itself - through the emergence and evolution of our consciousness, our awareness, our capacity to imagine and to anticipate the future and to choose from amongst alternatives."

"The art of science is as important as so-called technical science. You need both. It's this combination that must be recognized and acknowledged and valued."

"My life is pretty well at peace, and the profession is more of an avocation. It's a calling, if you like, rather than a job. I do what I feel impelled to do, as an artist would."

"What you see in living systems, and in genetic systems, is that the genes are already there, having arisen in the course of time, and when they are needed they become activated. If they had to be invented, the time would be too late."

"I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams."

"One of the greatest rewards for doing can be the chances it gives to do some more - even better."

"I have the impression that the new generation of young people, are coming up on the scene with a sense "ancestorhood", and with more wisdom than was evident before."

"My job is to help people see what I see. If it's of value, fine. And, if it's not of value, then at least I've done what I can do."

"When I worked on the polio vaccine, I had a theory. I guided each [experiment] by imagining myself in the phenomenon in which I was interested. The intuitive realm . . . the realm of the imagination guides my thinking."