Harold E. Varmus Quotes

Powerful Harold E. Varmus for Daily Growth

About Harold E. Varmus

Harold Ellis Varmus is an eminent American physician, molecular biologist, and Nobel laureate, born on September 19, 1939, in New York City. Raised in a family of modest means, his early life was heavily influenced by his curiosity and love for learning. He showed exceptional potential, skipping two grades during his elementary school years. Varmus pursued his undergraduate studies at Amherst College, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1960. He then moved on to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, earning his M.D. degree in 1964. His medical education was followed by a fellowship in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1968, Varmus joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a staff scientist. It was during this time that he began his groundbreaking research on retroviruses and cancer. In 1974, he co-discovered the first oncogene (gag-v-sis), which was a significant breakthrough in understanding the genetic basis of cancer. Varmus's work led to his appointment as the Director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences from 1989 to 1993. He then served as the President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1993 to 2008. In 2008, Varmus was appointed as the Director of the National Cancer Institute by President Barack Obama. His tenure saw the creation of the Cancer Genome Atlas project and the Cancer Moonshot initiative. In 2010, Varmus co-won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of cancer-causing genes, sharing the award with J. Michael Bishop. His major works have significantly contributed to our understanding of retroviruses and oncogenes, laying a solid foundation for modern cancer research.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself."

This quote emphasizes the importance of honesty, self-awareness, and critical thinking in scientific research. In essence, it suggests that scientists should always strive to avoid deceiving themselves by questioning their findings rigorously and objectively. The goal is to arrive at accurate conclusions through methodical and unbiased investigation, thereby advancing our collective understanding of the world around us.


"The nature of science is to seek the truth wherever it may be found, even if that truth lies outside our current understanding or comfort zone."

This quote by Harold E. Varmus highlights the core principle that drives scientific exploration – an unyielding quest for truth, regardless of where it leads or how challenging it might be to comprehend. It underscores the importance of pushing boundaries, delving into unknown territories, and questioning our current understanding in order to expand human knowledge. In essence, it emphasizes the spirit of curiosity and determination that fuels the scientific process, as scientists are dedicated to unearthing truths that may lie beyond their comfort zone or conventional wisdom.


"It's important to remember that science itself doesn't tell you how things are going to turn out; it tells you what the possibilities are and what you can do about them."

This quote emphasizes that while science provides knowledge, insights, and potential explanations for natural phenomena, it does not dictate future outcomes or definitively predict the consequences of actions. Instead, scientific understanding empowers us to explore and make informed decisions about the possibilities we encounter, ultimately shaping our destiny.


"The best ideas come from a blend of different disciplines, a way of thinking that is open-minded, flexible, and inclusive."

This quote suggests that creativity and innovative thinking often stem from the fusion of diverse academic disciplines and open-minded perspectives. By embracing multiple fields of knowledge, fostering flexibility in thought, and encouraging inclusivity, one can cultivate a rich intellectual environment that breeds groundbreaking ideas. In essence, it's about learning, unlearning, and reconnecting the dots to create something remarkable.


"In science, as in life, the key to success is often less about genius or inspiration and more about persistence, curiosity, and a willingness to ask questions."

This quote by Harold Varmus highlights three essential qualities for successful scientific inquiry and personal growth: persistence, curiosity, and questioning. Persistence signifies the ability to persevere through challenges, setbacks, or failures, understanding that progress often requires time and effort. It's about sticking with a problem, experiment, or project until it yields results. Curiosity represents an innate desire to learn, explore, and seek out new knowledge for its own sake. A curious mind asks questions, seeks answers, and never stops wondering about the world around us. The willingness to ask questions suggests open-mindedness, humility, and a readiness to engage with others in dialogue and discussion. Asking questions fosters collaboration, stimulates creativity, and promotes the exchange of ideas essential for scientific advancement. In essence, success in science, as in life, is a journey driven by persistence, fueled by curiosity, and enriched through questioning – qualities that enable us to grow both personally and professionally.


Some growths can be detected early, making for increased accuracy in diagnosis. Some can be cured and others controlled.

- Harold E. Varmus

Some, Making, Controlled, Cured

I begin with the premise that behavior is an incredibly important element in medicine. People's habits, their willingness to quit smoking, their willingness to take steps to avoid transmission of HIV, are all behavioral questions.

- Harold E. Varmus

Medicine, Questions, Habits, HIV

Following graduation from Amherst, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship enabled me to test the depth of my interest in literary scholarship by beginning graduate studies at Harvard University.

- Harold E. Varmus

Beginning, Test, University, Depth

I had learned that science is a rewarding, active process of discovery, not the passive absorption of what others had discovered.

- Harold E. Varmus

Process, Rewarding, Learned, Passive

I had learned of Gertrude Stein's bon mot that medicine opened all doors. This prompted me, in different moods, to view my future life as literary psychiatrist, globe-trotting tropical disease specialist, or academic internist.

- Harold E. Varmus

Had, Stein, Literary, Prompted

All basic scientists who look to the NCI for funding should know that I will tolerate no retreat on the study of model systems and the pursuit of fundamental biological principles.

- Harold E. Varmus

Study, Will, Funding, Biological

Every cancer looks different. Every cancer has similarities to other cancers. And we're trying to milk those differences and similarities to do a better job of predicting how things are going to work out and making new drugs.

- Harold E. Varmus

Differences, Other, Out, Better Job

As an undergraduate at Amherst College, I was devoted to Dickensian novels and antiestablishment journalism while marginally fulfilling premedical requirements.

- Harold E. Varmus

College, Devoted, While, Novels

I was born in the shadow of World War II, on December 18, 1939, on the South Shore of Long Island, a product of the early -wentieth-century emigration of Eastern European Jewry to New York City and its environs.

- Harold E. Varmus

Shadow, Long Island, South, December

Anyone graduating from medical school in 1966 had first to fulfill military service before launching a career. Fiercely opposed to the Vietnam War, I sought to avoid it through an assignment to the Public Health Service.

- Harold E. Varmus

Medical, Career, Through, Vietnam War

When I was the NIH director, I often expressed envy of institute directors: they had the money and ran the scientific programmes.

- Harold E. Varmus

Envy, Director, Programmes, Ran

Tobacco, UV rays, viruses, heredity, and age are the main causes of cancer.

- Harold E. Varmus

Tobacco, Viruses, Causes, Heredity

The public schools I attended were dominated by athletics and rarely inspiring intellectually, but I enjoyed a small circle of interesting friends despite my ineptitude at team sports and my preference for reading.

- Harold E. Varmus

Sports, Small, Attended, Athletics

Just after graduation in 1966, like many of my contemporaries, I applied for research training at the National Institutes of Health. Perhaps because his wife was a poet, Ira Pastan agreed to take me into his laboratory, despite my lack of scientific credentials.

- Harold E. Varmus

Credentials, Applied, Institute

In preparation for a career in academic medicine, I worked as a medical house officer at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital from 1966 to 1968 and then joined Ira Pastan's laboratory at the National Institutes of Health as a Clinical Associate.

- Harold E. Varmus

Medical, Career, Officer, Institute

Cancer is a collection of many diseases with common principles, and each disease will have to be understood and more effectively controlled on its own terms.

- Harold E. Varmus

Will, More, Disease, Understood

The NCI scientific programme leaders meet regularly to ensure that we are not ignoring highly original proposals and that we are not creating an unbalanced grant portfolio.

- Harold E. Varmus

Original, Scientific, Ensure, Highly

A major feature of life at the NIH in late 1960s was the extraordinary offering of evening courses for physicians attempting to become scientists as they neared thirty.

- Harold E. Varmus

Life, Courses, Attempting, Evening

When I read about genetics, I see breakthroughs every day. And while I'm trying to learn more about behavioral science, I must say that I don't feel I get tremendous intellectual stimulation from most of the things I read.

- Harold E. Varmus

Every Day, Feel, About, Breakthroughs

From some dilatory reading in the early 1960s, I knew enough about viruses and their association with tumors in animals to understand that they might provide a relatively simple entry into a problem as complex as cancer.

- Harold E. Varmus

Some, Association, About, Relatively

I'm used to being surrounded by really smart 22-year-old students who have no problem saying that something I suggested is not a very good idea.

- Harold E. Varmus

Surrounded, Idea, Very, Suggested

I believe that we are going to have a much deeper appreciation of what kinds of abnormalities in cancer cells and in the surrounding cells that feed and respond to cancers are vulnerabilities that will allow us to make better predictions of which kinds of drugs will work to treat these cancers.

- Harold E. Varmus

Treat, Allow, Kinds, Vulnerabilities

In general, all cancers have been traditionally characterized by the way they appear under the microscope and the organs in which they arise.

- Harold E. Varmus

Been, Characterized, Which, Microscope

Our biggest single theme is trying to make the NIH work better with the same amount of money.

- Harold E. Varmus

Single, Better, Amount, Theme

In the 1960s and '70s, there wasn't much evidence at all. We knew vaguely the causes of cancer, but methods like genomics were very new.

- Harold E. Varmus

New, Evidence, Very, Cancer

When high school students ask to spend their afternoons and weekends in my laboratory, I am amazed: I didn't develop that kind of enthusiasm for science until I was 28 years old.

- Harold E. Varmus

Students, Years, Weekends, Amazed

Science can improve lives in ways that are elegant in design and moving in practice.

- Harold E. Varmus

Practice, Ways, Lives, Moving

My ideal summer day was reading on the porch.

- Harold E. Varmus

Day, Reading, Ideal, Porch

I saw my friends in medical school seeming to be more engaged with the real world. That provoked a sort of jealousy, and I decided to go to medical school after all.

- Harold E. Varmus

Medical, Engaged, Provoked, Seeming

I keep encouraging the pharmaceutical companies to put more money into R&D.

- Harold E. Varmus

Pharmaceutical, Companies, Encouraging

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