“But we must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity.”
Marie Curie
The Discovery of Radium (Primary source)
Marie Curie’s speech at Vassar College stands as both scientific memoir and pioneering testament. Speaking to aspiring women scholars, she demystified her painstaking isolation of radium while embodying the possibilities of female intellectual achievement in an era of profound scientific revolution.
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“I have no dress except the one I wear. If you are going to be kind enough to give me one [a wedding dress], please let it be practical and dark, so that I can put it on afterwards to go to the laboratory.”
— Marie Curie Secondary source“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”
— Marie Curie Secondary source“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
— Marie Curie Secondary source“We cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. Toward this end, each of us must work toward his own highest development, accepting at the same time his share of responsibility in the general life of humanity—our particular duty being to help those to whom we feel we can be most useful.”
— Marie Curie Secondary source“This is one country. It has become one country because all of us and all the people who came here had an equal chance to develop their talents.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Disputed“It was wonderful to walk down the long flights of stairs knowing that I’d had good luck working. I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next. That way I could be sure of going on the next day.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn a living at it.”
— Albert Einstein Primary source