"The pinnacle of an education in science is the realization that you are mediocre.That you are made of the same elements as dirt, and that 60% of your DNA is identical to that of a fruit fly. It is the knowledge that you were incredibly lucky to ever be born, and that you will inevitably die. But with this revelation comes an inescapable humility ( Read more... )

Although we strap time to our wrists, stuff it into our pockets, hang it on our walls, a perpetually moving picture for every room of the house, it can still run away, elude and evade, and show itself again only when there are minutes remaining and there is nothing left to do except wait till there are none.

Monique Truong, The Book of Salt