Senator John Pastore: “Is there anything connected with the hopes of this accelerator that in any way involves the security of the country?”Physicist Robert Rathburn Wilson: “No sir, I don’t believe so.”
Pastore: “Nothing at all?”
Wilson: “Nothing at all.”
Pastore: “It has no value in that respect?”
Wilson: “It has only to do with the respect with which we regard one another, the dignity of man, our love of culture. It has to do with: Are we good painters, good sculptors, great poets? I mean all the things we really venerate in our country and are patriotic about. It has nothing to do directly with defending our country except to make it worth defending.”
As we busy ourselves writing grants and justifying our existence, it’s good to take a step back.
hat tip to Boing Boing
Posted by pheidole 
Survive and Thrive in Grad School 