Perspectives in Biology and Medicine

IT HAS BEEN SAID and collected by DONALD F. SMITH* "The truth a man accepts most willingly is the one he desires."—Sir Francis Bacon "It is a pity that nowadays most people are so anxiously bent on being practical , to get ahead in life, that they no longer find time to make sure where they really want to go."—Hans Selye "It is not by making our brains a storehouse for cramming facts that our understanding is opened."—M. K. Gandhi "Men, not having been able to cure death, misery, and ignorance, have imagined to make themselves happy by not thinking of these things."—Blaise Pascal "Compromise, except in the two fields, only, of morals and of exact science, is necessary in every human action."—Dwight D. Eisenhower "Mental experiences are reported by all human beings with whom we take the trouble to communicate at the appropriate level."—John Carew Eccles "A more critical appraisal of these arguments weakens the convincing strength of their fallacious logic."—R. Hernandez-Peon "The philosophers have only interpreted the world differently, the point is, to change it."—Karl Marx *Psychopharmacology Research Unit, Psychiatric Hospital, 8240 Risskov, Denmark. Material appearing under this title is collected with the aim of making the serious a bit less serious, the ponderous a bit less heavy, and the reading hours a bit more fun. Toward this goal we invite a guest editor of this feature for each issue. Will readers volunteer to share their senses of humor by collecting or recollecting items that have brought smiles to their faces? We invite your participation. Originals are also welcomed. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 30, 2 ¦ Winter 1987 \ 259 "When any phase of science is getting under way, good observation is indispensable , whereas good speculation can wait."—Edwin G. Boring "It is sometimes taken as a matter of course that skepticism is the highest flower of the scientific spirit. This thesis might be admitted to have an aspect of truth if it did not so often cover a mere automatic means of protecting ourselves against the painful eruption of new ideas."—W. Trotter "I'm going to refer to anything that gets an organism going as drive or motivation . You're entitled to quibble about that definition—with somebody else."— S. P. Grossman "An instinctive respect for the printed word makes it difficult for most people to appreciate that it is occasionally completely false."—B. E. Noltings "Kinds of love: 1 . the symbiotic love of the infant, 2. the dependent love of the toddler, 3. the possessive 'oedipal' love of the child, 4. the idealizing love of the juvenile, 5. the confidential love of préadolescent chums, 6. the romantic love, 7. the mutual, constructive love of marriage, 8. the caring love of parenthood."— D. E. Orlinsky "Our preconceptions are so powerful that when we find data that contradict them, we tend to rationalize the data as exceptions, or to misinterpret them in other ways."—Benson E. Ginsburg "Science is a half-way house, at which the mediocre, more multifarious, and more complicated beings find their natural gratification and means of expression : all those who do well to avoid action."—F. Nietzsche "The utmost accuracy in writing, as well as in experimenting or observing, should be every scientist's aim."—M. O'Connor and F. P. Woodford "There have always been many historians who were more concerned that truth should be on their side than that they should be on the side of truth."— D. H. Fischer "It cannot be sufficiently emphasized, however, that a statistical method is in no way a substitute for a good experiment."—J. T. LitchfieldJr. and F. Wilcoxon 260 I // Has Been Said by GERHARD UHLENBRUCKt Science: No thing is nothing. Never change a winning theme. For the postdocs, I am their grant-father. Please do not oversee the papers from oversea. From the mouth of a mouse: "Better unborn than inbred." Science: Travelling means unravelling science. Truth: Say never, however, forever. Plagiarism: Losers must be choosers. Only against the stream you come to the origin. Decadence in science: "secondhand" creativity. Seeing is "not believing"! A Scientist must be successful and not a success-fool...