Linus Pauling Quotes (1901-1994)

“Although different kinds of chemical reactions are thus easily recognized, it has not been found very useful in general to attempt to classify reactions in a rigorous way. Nevertheless, there is one very important class of chemical reactions that deserves special study. These reactions are oxidation-reduction reactions, to which we now turn our attention.”

“If you want to have good ideas you must have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong, and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.”

“A substance showing resonance between two or more valence-bond structures does not contain molecules with the configurations and properties usually associated with these structures.”

“An addition reaction is a reaction in which a molecule adds to a molecule containing a double bond, converting the double bond into a single bond. Because of this property of readily combining with other substances such as the halogens, ethylene and related hydrocarbons are said to be unsaturated. Ethylene is the first member of a homologous series of hydrocarbons, called the ethylene series.”

“We must not have a Nuclear war. We must begin to solve international disputes by the application of man's power of reason in a way that is worthy of the dignity of man. We must solve them by arbitration, negotiation, and the development of international law, the making of international agreements that will do justice to all nations and to all peoples and will benefit all nations and to all people. Now is the time to start.”

“Investigations of the entropy of substances at low temperatures have produced very important information regarding the structure of crystals, the work of Giauque and his collaborators being particularly noteworthy. For example, the observed entropy of crystalline hydrogen shows that even at very low temperatures the molecules of orthohydrogen in the crystal are rotating about as freely as in the gas; ... subsequent to this discovery the phenomenon of rotation of molecules in crystals was found to be not uncommon.”

“We may, I believe, anticipate that the chemist of the future who is interested in the structure of proteins, nucleic acids, polysaccharides, and other complex substances with high molecular weight will come to rely upon a new structural chemistry, involving precise geometrical relationships among the atoms in the molecules and the rigorous application of the new structural principles, and that great progress will be made, through this technique, in the attack, by chemical methods, on the problems of biology and medicine.”

“He combined scientific brilliance, political courage, and a stubborn, quirky single-mindedness in ways that... will probably always resist simple explanation.”

“Linus Pauling was not always right in his ideas. But my belief is that, in most cases, if somebody is always right in his ideas you find that he does not have much to say. It is an expression of somebody's fertility that he does produce quite a number of ideas, and I think Linus Pauling's score is pretty high... I do not think, as I said earlier, that it is right to discuss the impact of Linus Pauling on molecular biology. Rather, he was one of the founders of molecular biology. It was not that it existed in some way, and he simply made a contribution. He was one of the founders who got the whole discipline going.”

“Whatever the context and whatever the audience, he was clear, he was committed, he was compassionate, and, far more often than most, he was right — or if not, at least on the side of the angels.”

“If there is a need for a universal hero, it is easy to see why Linus Pauling would be nominated for the role. In many ways he seemed larger than life.”

“Linus Pauling undoubtedly stands as one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century.”

“Although Pauling was often controversial and was sometimes criticized in both scientific and political arenas, it is incontrovertible that he had a major impact on science, education, and international peace.”

“From time to time throughout his long life, scientists and commentators dismissed him as a showman. Would that we had a whole troupe of such scientific showmen.”

“The esteem with which he was regarded was vividly illustrated to me in 1951 when, as a postdoctoral fellow of Pauling's, I visited Albert Einstein in Princeton. Einstein's comment to me was "Ah, that man is a real genius!"”

“An extraordinary person — a scientist, educator, humanist, and statesman with worldwide impact in each of these roles.”

“In spite of our advances... there is no scientific evidence that can convince... more potently than a sincere and emotional testimonial. Such... does not always come from the regular guy... Linus Pauling... was said to believe in vitamin C's medicinal properties, himself ingesting massive doses. With his bully pulpit, he contributed to the common belief in vitamin C's curative properties. Many medical studies, unable to replicate Pauling's claims, fell on dear ears as it was difficult to undo the testimonial by a "Nobel Prize winner," even if he was not qualified to discuss matters related to medicine.”

“If we stay strong, then I believe we can stabilize the world and have peace based on force. Now, peace based on force is not as good as peace based on agreement, but in the terrible world in which we live, in the world where the Russians have enslaved many millions of human beings, in the world where they have killed men, I think that for the time being the only peace we can have is the peace based on force. Furthermore, I do not think that this peace based on force is, can be, or should be, an ultimate end. Our ultimate end must be precisely what Dr. Pauling says, peace based on agreement, on understanding, on universally agreed and enforced law. I think this is a wonderful idea, but peace based on force buys the necessary time, and in this time we can work for better understanding, for closer collaboration, first with the countries which are closest to us, which we understand better, our allies, the western countries, the NATO countries, which believe in human liberties as we do. Then, as soon as possible, with the rest of the free world, and eventually, I hope, with the whole world, including Russia, even though it may take many years to come.”

“... Particularly important were the exact arguments needed to understand how Linus Pauling had discovered the α-helix. I soon was taught that Pauling's accomplishment was a product of common sense, not the result of complicated mathematical reasoning. Equations occasionally crept into his argument, but in most cases words would have sufficed. The key to Linus' success was his reliance on the simple laws of structural chemistry. The α-helix had not been found by only staring at X-ray pictures; the essential trick, instead, was to ask which atoms like to sit next to each other. In place of pencil and paper, the main working tools were a set of molecular models superficially resembling the toys of preschool children.”