Christiane Nusslein-Volhard Quotes

I think like a lot of people, you look back on your life and say, 'Gee, why didn't I apply myself?' If I would have spent as much time studying as I did conniving, trying to do as little as possible, I probably would have got the A's.

The kindest word to describe my performance in school was Sloth.

I would like my kids to study well.

My mind has an obsessive, neurotic quality, but I also have a very hard work ethic. I know that a lot of people think, oh, you have a wild imagination. I don't, really. If ten people are sitting around and someone says, "Hey complete this sentence in a funny way," I'm never ahead of the pack.

I was a dummy in school.

Acting is easier - writing is more creative. The lazy man vies with the industrious.

I was, if you like, a successful schoolboy in that I had a degree of talent in all the required things that make you a success at school.

When I went to college, I was doing well in school, but I didn't have any drive to study.

I was always a good student. I wasn't the A-plus student, but I studied really hard, and I probably had a 3.2. I always wished that I had the capacity to get straight A's, but I didn't. I didn't beat myself up about it, but I really studied hard for my grades.

I kind of always did get good grades.

I was a rather quiet student, studying hard. Once, I was ranked fifth in a school exam out of everyone in the same grade.

My mum and dad pushed me to work hard in my earlier years in education.

My mum's always had big aspirations because I'm an academic. I always got good grades at school. GCSEs were just a breeze for me.

I'm passionate about schoolwork because I don't like getting bad grades.

I never had good grades until I dropped out of religion. And then suddenly, my grades went up.

I always stayed on top of my schoolwork. I did it because I had to and because I had a strict father. He made sure I did my homework and told me not to mess around in class.

I did a lot of thinking, and used mental activity to relieve whatever feelings I had. I became very left-brained, and I was good in school. That is, I was a smart kid.

I'm 23 but I got a brain like I'm 32 man, switched the numbers around. Smart kid too, straight-A student, I was just a class clown.

I'm a very bad student, but a great learner.

I was the baby of the family, but I was never babied, and that allowed me to take whatever artistic temperament I had and apply learned discipline. I was taught how to work. I think that's everything. Creativity and imagination alone are not going to get you there.

Self-discipline has a bigger effect on academic performance than does intellectual talent.

Duke is in extremely competitive environment. In my high school, I think I got one B my whole four years. I was used to being the smartest kid in every class I was in, and then I went to Duke and suddenly I was the dumbest kid in every class. Everybody there is up to something.

I knew I could compete with most people in high school. It didn't quite give me an attitude, but it made me think I didn't have to try hard sometimes.

I think the people who work with me are people who love style themselves. I'm leaving the office and they're still working. They're passionate.

You know, I don't think a lot about why one book connects with its readers and another doesn't. Probably because I don't want to start thinking, "Am I popular?" I spent way too much time thinking about that in high school.