Bill McKibben Quotes

The fundamental laws necessary for the mathematical treatment of a large part of physics and the whole of chemistry are thus completely known, and the difficulty lies only in the fact that application of these laws leads to equations that are too complex to be solved.

The laws of nature are constructed in such a way as to make the universe as interesting as possible.

Most of us make up our minds in the first three minutes of meeting someone whether there's a potential for a relationship.

I mean, there's chemistry in life and there's acting chemistry. I'm not saying they're the same thing, but they're as mysterious.

It always seems odd to me that the fundamental laws of physics, when discovered, can appear in so many different forms that are not apparently identical at first, but, with a little mathematical fiddling, you can show the relationship.

I wanted to understand the secrets behind my chemical experiments and behind the processes in nature.

There is a close analogy between organic chemistry in its relation to biochemistry and pure mathematics in its relation to physics.

Nature's patterns sometimes reflect two intertwined features: fundamental physical laws and environmental influences. It's nature's version of nature versus nurture.

Everything inspires me, but when it comes to chemistry, and when it comes to the ups and downs of relationships, that's what's real for people.

Chemistry happens naturally, and there's not really a lot you can do intentionally to create it.

There's just something fascinating to me about watching a business interaction unfold, and the negotiation. And how everything is negotiable in life.

So far as we know, all the fundamental laws of physics, like Newton's equations, are reversible.

Even the most eminent persons are subject to the laws of gravity.

Sometimes chemistry does the trick, and other times, you have to forge that with the people.

There is no true understanding of Biology without Chemistry. And there's no true understanding of Chemistry without Physics.

I meet with ambassadors from all countries in my role as a member of Congress, and you always have better relationships with those you actually personally get along with. That matters. So if there is chemistry between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, maybe that can bode for something.

Emotions are the natural result of striving for something. Every single scene has two or more people in it, and nobody wants the same thing, so they are negotiating this one way or another. The result of that negotiation will bring out all kinds of emotional stuff in you.

Mathematics are well and good but Nature keeps dragging us around by the nose.

I feel real ownership in this show. I feel very invested in it. I care very much about it. I don't feel any more like a hired hand, you know? It's a strange feeling - I feel personally responsible for how the story goes. What happens. What the weaknesses are. And so in a way, some of the changes gave me an opportunity to have a voice in a different way.

There is a certain physiognomy in manners.

When a war is waged by two opposing groups of robbers for the sake of deciding who shall have a freer hand to oppress more people, then the question of the origin of the war is of no real economic or political significance.

Who know but He, whose hand the lightning forms, Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms, Pours fierce ambition in a Caesar's mind.

As an improviser, I always find it jarring when I meet someone in real life whose first answer is no. “No, we can’t do that.” “No, that’s not in the budget.” “No, I will not hold your hand for a dollar.” What kind of way is that to live?

We believe that peace is at hand.

... imaginary gardens with real toads in them ... ... if you demand on one hand, the raw material of poetry in all its rawness and that which is on the other hand genuine, then you are interested in poetry.