Top highlights from Lessons in Chemistry
Whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change - and change is what we're chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others' opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what YOU will change. And then get started.
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(On religion) "I think it lets us off the hook. I think it teaches us that nothing is really our fault; that something or someone else is pulling the strings; the ultimately, we're not to blame for the way things are; that to improve things, we should pray. But the truth is, we are very much responsible for the badness in the world. And we have the power to fix it.
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Because while musical prodigies are always celebrated, early readers arent. And thats because early readers are only good at something others will eventually be good at, too. So being first isnt special - its just annoying.
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And as humans, were by-products of our upbringings, victims of our lackluster educational systems, and choosers of our behaviors. In short, the reduction of women to something less than men, and the elevation of men to something more than women, is not biological: its cultural. And it starts with two words: pink and blue. Everything skyrockets out of control from there. Speaking
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Sometimes I think," she said slowly, "that if a man were to spend a day being a woman in America, he wouldn't make it past noon.
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Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun,
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some things needed to stay in the past because the past was the only place they made sense.
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Imagine if all men took women seriously. Education would change. The workforce would revolutionize. Marriage counsellors would go out of business. Do you see my point?
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Courage is the root of changeand change is what were chemically designed to do.
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No surprise. Idiots make it into every company. They tend to interview well.
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On the other hand, wasn't that the very definitely of life? Constant adaptations brought about by a series of never-ending mistakes?
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Every day she found parenthood like taking a test for which she had not studied. The questions were daunting and there wasnt nearly enough multiple choice.
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I dont have hopes, Mad explained, studying the address. I have faith. He looked at her in surprise. Well, thats a funny word to hear coming from you. How come? Because, he said, well, you know. Religion is based on faith. But you realize, she said carefully, as if not to embarrass him further, that faith isnt based on religion. Right?
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Because while stupid people may not know theyre stupid because theyre stupid, surely unattractive people must know theyre unattractive because of mirrors.
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Humans need reassurance, they need to know others survived in hard times. And unlike other species which do a better job of learning from their mistakes, humans require constant threats and reminders to be nice.
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Chemistry is change and change is the core of your belief system. Which is good because thats what we need more ofpeople who refuse to accept the status quo, who arent afraid to take on the unacceptable.
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Whenever you start doubting yourself, whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change and change is what we're chemically designed to do.
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Having a baby, Elizabeth realized, was a little like living with a visitor from a distant planet. There was a certain amount of give and take as the visitor learned your ways and you learned theirs, but gradually their ways faded and your ways stuck. Which she found regrettable. Because unlike adults, her visitor never tired of even the smallest discovery; always saw the magic in the extraordinary.
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Elizabeth Zott held grudges too. Except her grudges were mainly reserved for a patriarchal society founded on the idea that women were less. Less capable. Less intelligent. Less inventive. A society that believed men went to work and did important thingsdiscovered planets, developed products, created lawsand women stayed at home and raised children.
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rowing is almost exactly like raising kids. Both require patience, endurance, strength, and commitment. And neither allow us to see where were goingonly where weve been. I find that very reassuring, dont you?
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It was a form of navet, he thought, the way she continued to believe that all it took to get through life was grit. Sure, grit was critical, but it also took luck, and if luck wasnt available, then help. Everyone needed help. But maybe because shed never been offered any, she refused to believe in it.
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Its just that we tend to treat pregnancy as the most common condition in the worldas ordinary as stubbing a toewhen the truth is, its like getting hit by a truck. Although obviously a truck causes less damage.
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The librarian is the most important educator in school. What she doesnt know, she can find out. This is not an opinion; its a fact. Do not share this fact with Mrs. Mudford.
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For Elizabeth, cooking wasnt some preordained feminine duty. As shed told Calvin, cooking was chemistry. Thats because cooking actually is chemistry.
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Whenever you start doubting yourself, she said, turning back to the audience, whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of changeand change is what were chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what you will change. And then get started.
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That's why I wanted to use Supper at Six to teach chemistry. Because when women understand chemistry, they begin to understand how things work." Roth looked confused."I'm referring to atoms and molecules, Roth," she explained. "The real rules that govern the physical world. When women understand these basic concepts, they can begin to see the false limits that have been created for them.""You mean by men.""I mean by artificial cultural and religious policies that put men in the highly unnatural role of single-sex leadership. Even a basic understanding of chemistry reveals the danger of such a lopsided approach.""Well," he said, realizing he'd never seen it that way before, "I agree that society leaves much to be desired, but when it comes to religion, I tend to think it humbles us--teaches us our place in the world." "Really?" she said, surprised. "I think it lets us off the hook. I think it teachers us that nothing is really our fault; that something or someone else is pulling the strings; that ultimately, we're not to blame for the way things are; that to improve things, we should pray. But the truth is, we are very much responsible for the badness of the world. And we have the power to fix it.
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But Elizabeth didnt flinch. Im confused, she said. Youre firing me on the basis of being pregnant and unwed. What about the man? What man? You mean Evans? Donatti asked. Any man. When a woman gets pregnant outside of marriage, does the man who made her pregnant get fired, too? What? What are you talking about? Would you have fired Calvin, for instance? Of course not! If not, then, technically, you have no grounds to fire me. Donatti looked confused. What? Of course, I do, he stumbled. Of course, I do! Youre the woman! Youre the one who got knocked up! Thats generally how it works. But you do realize that a pregnancy requires a mans sperm. Miss Zott, Im warning you. Watch your language. Youre saying that if an unmarried man makes an unmarried woman pregnant, there is no consequence for him. His life goes on. Business as usual.
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On top of his grudge holding, he had a reputation for impatience. Like so many brilliant people, Calvin just couldnt understand how no one else got it. He was also an introvert, which isnt really a flaw but often manifests itself as standoffishness. Worst of all, he was a rower. As any non-rower can tell you, rowers are not fun. This is because rowers only ever want to talk about rowing. Get two or more rowers in a room and the conversation goes from normal topics like work or weather to long, pointless stories about boats, blisters, oars, grips, ergs, feathers, workouts, catches, releases, recoveries, splits, seats, strokes, slides, starts, settles, sprints, and whether the water was really flat or not. From there, it usually progresses to what went wrong on the last row, what might go wrong on the next row, and whose fault it was and/or will be. At some point the rowers will hold out their hands and compare calluses. If youre really unlucky, this could be followed by several minutes of head-bowing reverence as one of them recounts the perfect row where it all felt easy.
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I think it lets us off the hook. I think it teaches us that nothing is really our fault; that something or someone else is pulling the strings; that ultimately, were not to blame for the way things are; that to improve things, we should pray. But the truth is, we are very much responsible for the badness in the world. And we have the power to fix it.
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I believe in a few things, he corrected. Mostly the things about not giving up hope, not giving in to darkness.
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before he realized that making her happy made him happy. Which, he thought, as he grabbed his tennis shoes, had to be the very definition of love.
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Hed not had much experience with families, but hed always assumed that being part of one was important: a prerequisite for stability, what one relied on to get through the hard times. Hed never really considered that a family could actually be the hard times.
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When one is raised on a steady diet of sorrow, its hard to imagine that others might have had an even larger serving.
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But people need to believe in something bigger than themselves.Why? Calvin pressed. Whats wrong with believing in ourselves?
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A man can make lunch, Mr. Pine. It is not biologically impossible.
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Why do you think so many people believe in texts written thousands of years ago? And why does it seem the more supernatural, unprovable, improbable, and ancient the source of these texts, the more people believe them?
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Too many brilliant minds are kept from scientific research thanks to ignorant biases like gender and race. It infuriates me and it should infuriate you. Science has big problems to solve: famine, disease, extinction. And those who purposefully close the door to others using self-serving, outdated cultural notions are not only dishonest, theyre knowingly lazy. Hastings Research Institute is full of them.
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People like my father preach love but are filled with hate. Anyone who threatens their narrow beliefs cannot be tolerated.
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people will always yearn for a simple solution to their complicated problems. Its a lot easier to have faith in something you cant see, cant touch, cant explain, and cant change, rather than to have faith in something you actually can.
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Unlike ink, graphite is erasable. People make mistakes, Mr. Roth. Pencil allows one to clear the mistake and move on. Scientists expect mistakes and, because of it, we embrace failure.
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Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun, a quote from Marcus Aurelius,
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She knew being mad at him was unfair, but grief is like that: arbitrary.
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I used to tell myself every day was new. That anything could happen.
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Whats wrong with believing in ourselves? Anyway, if stories must be used, why not rely on a fable or fairy tale? Arent they just as valid a vehicle for teaching morality? Except maybe better? Because no one has to pretend to believe that the fables and tales are true?
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Take a moment for yourself," Harriet said, "Every day.""A Moment.""A moment where YOU are your own priority. Just you. Not your baby, not your work, not your dead Mr. Evans, not your filthy house, not anything. Just you. Elizabeth Zott. Whatever you need, whatever you want, whatever you seek, reconnect with it in that moment." She gave a sharp tug to her fake pearls. "Then recommit.
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she, like so many other women, assumed that downgrading someone of her own sex would somehow lift her in the estimation of her male superiors.
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Youre a scientist, he said. Your job is to question thingsto search for answers. But sometimesand I know this for a factthere just arent any.
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Courage is the root of changeand change is what were chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others opinions of what you can and cannot achieve.
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When it came to equality, 1952 was a real disappointment.
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Im thinking you might enjoy Moby-Dick. Its a story about how humans continually underestimate other life-forms. At their peril.
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her grudges were mainly reserved for a patriarchal society founded on the idea that women were less. Less capable. Less intelligent.
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Hello, Creature, he transmitted as he pressed his ear into Elizabeths belly. Its me, Six-Thirty. Im the dog.
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refuse to allow the bad thing to define you. Fight it.
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Often the best way to deal with the bad, she said, feeling for her pencil, is to turn it on enduse it as a strength, refuse to allow the bad thing to define you. Fight it.
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Many believe protein comes from meat, eggs, and fish, she was saying, but protein originates in plants, and plants are what the biggest, strongest animals in the world eat.
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never even gotten through Dale Carnegies book about making friends and influencing people because ten pages in he realized he didnt care what anyone else thought.
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We both know food is the catalyst that unlocks our brains, binds our families, and determines our futures.
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And as humans, were by-products of our upbringings, victims of our lackluster educational systems, and choosers of our behaviors. In short, the reduction of women to something less than men, and the elevation of men to something more than women, is not biological: its cultural. And it starts with two words: pink and blue. Everything skyrockets out of control from there.
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They were all strangers, each living in a far-off city with lives and children of their own. She wanted to think there was some iron-clad bond that connected her to them for life, but thats not how it worked. Families required constant maintenance.
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Families required constant maintenance.
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