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Do you have a favorite quote(s) about science that you use in the classroom? If so, post it here. Also, have you ever considered the impact of creating a "mission statement" or statement of purpose for your course with your students?

I like this one. I actually use this as part of my signature.

We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but is somewhat beauty and poetry.
--Maria Mitchell

Kathy, I like the quote you cited by Martha Mitchell. I'm going to borrow it and use it on my final for my pre-service Elementary Science Methods class. I was looking for one more bonus question. Since we were talking about the wonder of science during our last class, this quote will be perfect to have my students respond. Thanks! Kathy Sparrow

Sorry, Maria Mitchell.

I think it is a great quote. It will be very interesting to see how your students react to the quote. Kathy

What would Stephen Hawkins say to this quote....When science finally locates the center of universe, some people will be surprised to learn they're not it..anonymous....lol.

That's a great one, Manuel. When I teach about revolution and rotation, I remind students of that quote (Since many of them have heard their mothers say something similar about the whole world not revolving around them). It helps them to understand the difference between those two terms! "In order to arrive at what you are not you must go through the way in which you are not." T. S. Eliot Carolyn

My personal favorites revolve around Environmental science! Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not! - The Lorax - Dr. Seuss We were not given this planet to do with as we choose, but it was loaned to us by our children. - which is basically a paraphrased proverb attributed to many different cultures! I love all of great quotes! If you don't like what you see CHANGE IT! Annette Ellis Louisville KY

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" ~Albert Einstein

First, I need a "like" button for Manuel's post. Second - my favorite quote of all time is, "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. His eyes are closed." - Albert Einstein I use this quote at the beginning of every year as a way to introduce students to Socratic Seminar and to set the tone for my classroom. I push students to delve deeper - what does he mean by "the mysterious"? Why does he qualify "true" art? What does it mean to be "rapt in awe"? Describe a time that you were "rapt in awe" at something you learned? (It's sad how many students can't think of a time.) Kendra

'If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.'
- Rachel Carson, author of 'Silent Spring'


'What a country chooses to save is what a country choses to say about itself.'
Mollie Beatty, former director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

'Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening it's life-support systems.'
- Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

Love these ones for an ecology/environmental science course introduction.

Dorothy Ginnett

Here is a quote that I reflect on from time to time as I prepare lessons. An old Chinese saying. I hear, I forget, I see, I question. I do, I learn. I teach, I understand. I reflect, I improve.

I love this idea. I like to put quotes on my door and around the classroom. I will use some of these. I will have to look for some to add to the list here.

Hello everyone, I love all your quotes, they are very deep and perfect for the classroom. I'm a student teacher and I plan on starting each week with a new quote for my future students. "The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them." ~William Lawrence Bragg "The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it." ~Robert L. Park, in The New York Times, 7 December 1999 "For every fact there is an infinity of hypotheses." ~Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, 1974

Hi All, Kendra, I noticed you made a comment about the Socratic seminar. Last year, my version of the Socratic seminar was to read a portion of an article and have the scholars ask very specific and related questions. Depending on the topic I would then have a debate. I'm not sure how much I am missing with the Socratic seminar though??

I decided upon this quote for my signature this year..... The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage. Mark Russell

I have two quotes that stay up in my room all year long: “I advise my students to listen carefully the moment they decide to take no more mathematics courses. They might be able to hear the sound of closing doors.” James Caballero “… Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure …” Marianne Williamson

I follow Science is Awesome on Facebook, and right now the banner at the top includes this quote from Isaac Asimov: "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'eureka!' but 'that's funny . . ."

I love Mark Twain. Here are a few favorites: "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't." "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." and "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn no other way." This last one could be extended to hands-on inquiry! Carolyn