Jacques Monod
A molecular biologist who, with François Jacob, elucidated the mechanisms of gene regulation, particularly the operon model.
Most quoted
"Man must at last wake out of his millenary dream; and in doing so, wake to his total solitude, his fundamental isolation. He must realize that, like a gypsy, he lives on the boundary of an alien world; a world that is deaf to his music, just as indifferent to his hopes as it is to his sufferings or his crimes."
— from Chance and Necessity, 1970
"Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution: this central concept of modern biology is no longer one among other possible or even conceivable hypotheses. It is today the sole conceivable hypothesis, the only one compatible with observed and tested fact."
— from Chance and Necessity, 1970
"And man must at last wake out of his millenary dream and discover his total solitude, his fundamental isolation. He must realize that, like a gypsy, he lives on the boundary of an alien world; a world that is deaf to his music, and as indifferent to his hopes as it is to his suffering or his crimes."
— from Chance and Necessity, 1970
All quotes by Jacques Monod (353)
The truth will set you free.
Life is a journey, not a destination.
The human heart is capable of great love and great hate.
The meaning of life is to give life meaning.
The universe is a symphony of chaos and order.
We are all stardust, and to stardust we shall return.
The only true religion is kindness.
To be human is to be flawed.
Man knows that he is alone in the indifferent immensity of the universe, out of which he emerged only by chance. His destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty.
The ancient covenant is in pieces; man knows at last that he is alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity, out of which he emerged only by chance. Neither his destiny nor his duty is anywhere set down.
The scientific attitude implies that in principle, no phenomenon is supernatural. That there is no God.
The highest form of love is the love of truth.
The cell is a machine, but it is a machine that makes itself.
The scientific attitude is a choice, not a necessity.
Any living system is a chemical machine, and its behavior is entirely explicable in terms of the properties of its constituent molecules.
The theory of evolution is not a theory, but a fact.
The scientific attitude is based on the postulate that nature is objective.
The scientific method is the only legitimate means of acquiring knowledge.
The idea of a 'final cause' in biology is a delusion.
The cell is a cybernetic machine.
Contemporaries of Jacques Monod
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Jacques Monod (1910–1976).