Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astronomer who has made science accessible to many through his numerous books, radio and TV appearances.
His interest in astronomy was sparked at the young age of nine when he visited the Hayden Planetarium.
Tyson pursued this passion and received degrees from Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University.
He contributed to the University of Texas’s StarDate magazine and later compiled these pieces into his books.
As the Hayden Planetarium’s director, he presided over a complete overhaul of the facility, notably reclassifying Pluto. Tyson’s influence extends to TV and radio, where he hosted series like Origins, NOVA scienceNOW and StarTalk.
Despite facing accusations of sexual misconduct in 2018, investigations were completed in 2019 and Tyson resumed his work, including his role as the Hayden Planetarium’s director.
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I have handpicked the top quotes by Neil DeGrasse Tyson for you.
Inspirational Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
1. “Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
2. “We are part of this universe; we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the universe is in us.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
3. “There’s as many atoms in a single molecule of your DNA as there are stars in the typical galaxy. We are, each of us, a little universe.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
4. “We spend the first year of a child’s life teaching it to walk and talk and the rest of its life to shut up and sit down. There’s something wrong there.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
5. “The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
6. “When students cheat on exams it’s because our school system values grades more than students value learning.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
7. “Not only do we live among the stars, the stars live within us.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
8. “For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
9. “Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
10. “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
11. “Follow the evidence wherever it leads, and question everything.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
12. “Math is the language of the universe. So the more equations you know, the more you can converse with the cosmos.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
Inspiring Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
13. “Science reveals that all life on Earth is one.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
14. “We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
15. “Everyone should have their mind blown once a day.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
16. “If you’re scientifically literate, the world looks very different to you, and that understanding empowers you.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
17. “Dinosaurs are extinct today because they lacked opposable thumbs and the brainpower to build a space program.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
18. “I think of space not as the final frontier but as the next frontier. Not as something to be conquered but to be explored.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
19. “To learn more about science, turn off your electronic device and go outside and look around a bit. Nature is calling you. Go on. The internet will still be here.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
20. “As areas of knowledge grow, so too do the perimeters of ignorance.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
21. “I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
Popular Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
22. “The remarkable feature of physical laws is that they apply everywhere, whether or not you choose to believe in them. After the laws of physics, everything else is opinion.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
23. “There is no greater education than one that is self-driven.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
24. “Ignorance is a virus. Once it starts spreading, it can only be cured by reason. For the sake of humanity, we must be that cure.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
25. “Photography is a form of time travel.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
26. “Pretending to know everything closes the door to finding out what’s really there.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
27. “Science literacy is a vaccine against the charlatans of the world that would exploit your ignorance.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
28. “We are not figuratively, but literally Stardust.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
29. “If your belief system is not founded in an objective reality, you should not be making decisions that affect other people.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
30. “The day we stop exploring is the day we commit ourselves to live in a stagnant world, devoid of curiosity, empty of dreams.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
31. “One thing in life is for certain, the more profoundly baffled you have been in your life, the more open your mind becomes to new ideas.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
32. “Relativity. Gravity. Quantum. Electrodynamics. Evolution. Each of these theories is true, whether or not you believe in them.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
33. “When you are a hammer, all of your problems will look like nails to you.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
34. “Intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
35. “All information is good, even when it is bad.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
36. “If you want to assert a truth, first make sure it’s not just an opinion that you desperately want to be true.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
37. “If we have the power to turn another planet into Earth, then we have the power to turn Earth back into Earth.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
Top Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
38. “Aliens might be surprised to learn that in a cosmos with limitless starlight, humans kill for energy sources buried in the sand.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
39. “I think the best thing a parent can do, when raising a child, is simply get out of their way.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
40. “Space exploration is a force of nature unto itself that no other force in society can rival.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
41. “Give a kid a book, and you change the world. In a way, even the universe.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
42. “On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
43. “It’s my duty to enlighten people.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
44. “In life and in the universe it’s always best to keep looking up.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
45. “When we try to look farther into the universe we come to what appears to be the end of space but actually it’s the beginning of time.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
46. “The most successful people recognize that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
47. “Feeling a little small? Well, in the context of the cosmos, we are small.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
48. “I’m often asked whether I believe in Global Warming. I now just reply with the question: “Do you believe in Gravity?”” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
49. “Our five senses are faulty data-taking devices, and they need help.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
50. “The greatest of people that have ever been in society, they were never versions of someone else. They were themselves.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
Famous Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
51. “Why can’t we summon the ingenuity and courage of the generations that came before us? The dinosaurs never saw that asteroid coming. What’s our excuse?” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
52. “Science is like an inoculation against charlatans who would have you believe whatever it is they tell you.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
53. “Not only are we in the universe, the universe is in us. I don’t know of any deeper spiritual feeling than what that brings upon me.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
54. “Science is a way of equipping yourself with the tools to interpret what happens in front of you.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
55. “Down there between our legs, it’s like an entertainment complex in the middle of a sewage system. Who designed that?” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
56. “The only way you can invent tomorrow is if you break out of the enclosure that the school system has provided for you by the exams written by people who are trained in another generation.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
57. “For your own safety, do not ever tell an astrophysicist, I hope all your stars are twinkling.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
58. “No one is dumb who is curious.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
59. “Scientific inquiry shouldn’t stop just because a reasonable explanation has apparently been found.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
60. “So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.’” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
61. “I think if everyone had the luxury to pursue a life of exactly what they love, we would all be ranked as visionaries and brilliant.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
62. “People like it when they understand something that they previously thought they couldn’t understand. It’s a sense of empowerment.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
63. “Does the full moon affect people’s behavior, you ask? Yup. It makes people think the full moon affects people’s behavior.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
64. “Perhaps these ancient observatories like Stonehenge perennially impress modern people because modern people have no idea how the Sun, Moon, or stars move. We are too busy watching evening television to care what’s going on in the sky.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
65. “What I’m saying is, when different experiments give you the same result, it is no longer subject to your opinion. That’s the good thing about science: It’s true whether or not you believe in it. That’s why it works.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
66. “Claiming there is no other life in the universe is like scooping up some water, looking at the cup and claiming there are no whales in the ocean.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
67. “Science is a philosophy of discovery. Intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance. You cannot build a program of discovery on the assumption that nobody is smart enough to figure out the answer to a problem.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
68. “What are the lessons to be learned from this journey of the mind through the universe? That humans are emotionally fragile, perennially gullible, hopelessly ignorant masters of an insignificantly small speck in the cosmos. Have a nice day.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
69. “Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the time. It’s whole universes coming into and out of existence.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
70. “Extreme skepticism and extreme gullibility are two equal ways of not having to think at all. And I don’t think I’m the first to say that.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
71. “We are star dust in the highest exalted way, called by the universe, reaching out to the universe.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
Short Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
72. “Our nation is turning into an idiocrasy.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
73. “Physics is the only profession in which prophecy is not only accurate but routine.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
74. “As children we all wonder – we wonder all the time. And that gets lost in adulthood. It gets beaten out, it gets filtered out or diluted out.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
75. “My view is that if your philosophy is not unsettled daily then you are blind to all the universe has to offer.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
76. “What would aliens say when told earthlings shift clocks twice a year to fool themselves into thinking there’s more sunlight?” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
77. “I want to put on the table, not why 85% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences reject God, I want to know why 15% of the National Academy don’t.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
78. “I’m a little fatigued of adults saying we’ve got to worry about the kids. And these are the same adults that don’t know science and are running things and wielding resources and legislation.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
79. “Society needs to see science not as a luxury of funding but as a fundamental activity that drives enlightenment, economics, and security.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
80. “In the animal kingdom, one of the keys to survival is to outwit your enemies. And when you’re surrounded by carnivores, one of the best strategies is to fade into the background and disappear.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
81. “Whenever people have used religious documents to make accurate predictions about our base knowledge of the physical world, they have been famously wrong.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
82. “That is a big question we all have: are we alone in the universe? And exoplanets confirm the suspicion that planets are not rare.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
83. “Let us not fool ourselves into thinking we went to the Moon because we are pioneers, or discoverers, or adventurers. We went to the Moon because it was the militaristically expedient thing to do.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
84. “I’ve known from long ago that the universe was calling me. If you were one of those annoying adults that said, ‘Oh, what are you gonna be when you grow up?’ I would say, ‘Astrophysicist .’ And then they’d walk away real quickly.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
85. “In physics, opinions don’t matter, only demonstrated experiments. The day the fellow succeeds, if ever, he won’t need anybody else’s opinion.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
86. “When you innovate, you create new industries that then boost your economy. And when you create new industries and that becomes part of your culture, your jobs can’t go overseas because no one else has figured out how to do it yet.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
87. “Astronauts are the only kind of celebrity I know who can have a line of people waiting for their autograph, even if the line of people does not know in advance the astronaut’s name.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
88. “The typical person has no trouble believing without knowing. What people need to realize is simply that you do not need to believe to know.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
89. “I agree that we should go back to the moon and on to Mars. We should treat all objects in the solar system, including comets and asteroids, as exploration targets.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
90. “Like no other science, astrophysics cross-pollinate s the expertise of chemists, biologists, geologists and physicists, all to discover the past, present, and future of the cosmos-and our humble place within it.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
91. “The first colony on Mars is not going to be built by a private company. How are you going to make money? You’re not.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
92. “I don’t want to go into space because of war. I think we would if it was triggered. If China said they want to put military bases on Mars, we’d be at Mars in two years. That would be quick. I don’t want that to be the reason.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
93. “You can make a stack high enough to reach the moon and back, and only then will you have used your 100 billion hamburgers. This is terrifying news to cows.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
94. “It’s short-sighted to think ads won’t one day end up wherever humans are – even the moon.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
95. “When I reach to the edge of the universe, I do so knowing that along some paths of cosmic discovery, there are times when, at least for now, one must be content to love the questions themselves.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
96. “In any city with lots of skyscrapers, lots of skyline, the moon seems bigger than it is. It’s called the moon illusion.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
97. “If there were biologists among the extremophiles organisms that live in extreme conditions, they would surely classify themselves as normal and any life that thrived in room temperature as an extremophile.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
98. “When everyone agrees to a single solution and a single plan, there’s nothing more efficient in the world than an efficient democracy.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
Best Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
99. “There is no true understanding of Biology without Chemistry. And there’s no true understanding of Chemistry without Physics.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
100. “Unlike what you may be told in other sectors of life, when observing the universe, size does matter, which often leads to polite ‘telescope envy’ at gatherings of amateur astronomers.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
101. “Access to science is greater than ever before. There are more vehicles out there that grant the public access to science. Not to mention the Internet.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
102. “We’re talking about a being whose very existence challenges our own sense of priority in the universe.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
103. “Science literacy is the artery through which the solutions of tomorrow’s problems flow.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
104. “You have the illusion of free will, but, in fact, that illusion comes about because you don’t know the future. Because you are a prisoner of the present, forever locked in transition, between the past and the future.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
105. “To achieve this density of a neutron star at home, just cram a herd of 50 million elephants into the volume of a thimble.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
106. “Space enthusiasts are the most susceptible demographic to delusion that I have ever seen.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
107. “A scientist is just a kid who never grew up.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
Motivational Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes
108. “No one is dumb who is curious. The people who don’t ask questions remain clueless throughout their lives.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
109. “One of the great challenges in life is knowing enough to think you’re right but not enough to know you’re wrong.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
110. “Where ignorance lurks, so too do the frontiers of discovery and imagination.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
111. “Science is not a subject you took in school. It’s life. We are wrapped by it, in it, with it.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
112. “In the end, it’s the people who are curious who change the world.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
113. “The theory of evolution, like the theory of gravity, is a scientific fact.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
114. “If cosmological theory were dominated by women, who are no strangers to cycles, how can we know for sure that we wouldn’t then be told that the oscillating universe is the more aesthetically fulfilling alternative?” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
115. “I try to show the public that chemistry, biology, physics, astrophysics is life. It is not some separate subject that you have to be pulled into a corner to be taught about.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
116. “No matter what eyewitness testimony is in the court of law, it is the lowest form of evidence in the court of science.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
117. “When NASA says they’re going into space, they don’t mean up and back. They mean orbit.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
118. “The Big Bang Theory: When geeky scientists can be main characters in a hit prime time series, you know there’s hope for the world.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
119. “Perhaps we’ve never been visited by aliens because they have looked upon Earth and decided there’s no sign of intelligent life.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
120. “I as an astrophysicist, see the universe, feel the universe, smell the universe every day. Every day. And for people to say, I’m cool, I’m right here, it’s all I need.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
121. “A conspiracy theorist is a person who tacitly admits that they have insufficient data to prove their points. A conspiracy is a battle cry of a person with insufficient data.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
122. “The iron from that meteorite and the iron from your blood have common origin in the core of a star.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
123. “The very nature of science is discoveries, and the best of those discoveries are the ones you don’t expect.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
124. “Kids should be allowed to break stuff more often. That’s a consequence of exploration. Exploration is what you do when you don’t know what you’re doing.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
125. “I know of no time in human history where ignorance was better than knowledge.” ~ (Neil deGrasse Tyson).
