35 Jonas Salk Quotes From The Inventor Of The Vaccine Against Polio

Anusuya Mukherjee
Dec 12, 2023 By Anusuya Mukherjee
Originally Published on Feb 12, 2021
Edited by Jacob Fitzbright
Jonas Salk black and white portrait

Dr. Jonas Salk was an American Virologist and medical researcher who is well known for his first successful Polio vaccines.

Jonas Salk was born and brought up in New York City and later studied medicine at City College of New York. Jonas Salk was the creator of the first polio vaccine and also one of the leading scientists of the twentieth century.

Jonas Salk spent a year studying influenza while attending medical school at New York University. It was only recently that the virus that causes the flu was discovered, and young Salk was eager to learn whether the virus could be deprived of its ability to infect, while still having immunity to the disease.

Dr. Salk succeeded in this attempt, which became the basis of his later work on the polio vaccine. Jonas Salk did not patent the vaccine because "There is no patent.

Could you patent the sun?"

The vaccine was finally released for public use in the United States on 12 April, 1955. We have all heard about Salk Institute, now let's do some research on Jonas Salk sayings while throwing light on his research.

For more such articles, also check out Charles Darwin quotes and Ada Lovelace quotes
 

Jonas Salk Quotes About Polio

Listed below are some Jonas Salk quotes about Salk vaccine and polio, Jonas Salk quotes patent related, Dr. Jonas Salk quotes and Jonas Salk 'do more' quotes.

1. "Reply when questioned on the safety of the polio vaccine he developed: It is safe, and you can't get safer than safe.”

- Jonas Salk.

2. "When you inoculate children with a polio vaccine, you don't sleep well for two or three months."

- Jonas Salk.

3. "I couldn't possibly have become a member of this Institute, you know, if I hadn't organized it myself."

- Jonas Salk.

4. "Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"

- Jonas Salk.

5. "The worst tragedy that could have befallen me was my success. I knew right away that I was through - cast out.”

- Jonas Salk.

6. "The mind, in addition to medicine, has the power to turn the immune system around."

- Jonas Salk.

7. "When I worked on the polio vaccine, I had a theory. I guided each by imagining myself in the phenomenon in which I was interested. The intuitive realm, the realm of the imagination guides my thinking."

- Jonas Salk.

Best Jonas Salk Quotes

Here we have Jonas Salk popular quotes that every medical researcher in New York and the rest of the world should go through. Enjoy these Jonas Salk quotes.

8. "Eventually, we’ll realize that if we destroy the ecosystem, we destroy ourselves."

- Jonas Salk.

9. "It is possible to create an epidemic of health which is self-organizing and self-propelling."

- Jonas Salk.

10. “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

- Jonas Salk.

11. “It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it. It's my partner.”

- Jonas Salk.

12. "As a child, I was not interested in science. I was merely interested in things human, the human side of nature if you like, and I continue to be interested in that. That's what motivates me."

- Jonas Salk.

13. "Evolution favors the survival of the wisest."

- Jonas Salk.

14. "If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish."

- Jonas Salk.

15. "Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors."

- Jonas Salk.

16. "My ambition was to bring to bear on medicine a chemical approach. I did that by chemical manipulation of viruses and chemical ways of thinking in biomedical research."  

- Jonas Salk.    

17. “Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.”

- Jonas Salk.

18. "I am interested in a phase that I think we are entering."

- Jonas Salk.

19. “It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it. It's my partner.”

- Jonas Salk.

20. “It is courage based on confidence, not daring, and it is confidence based on experience.”

- Jonas Salk.

21. "I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.”

- Jonas Salk.

22. “The most important question we must ask ourselves is, 'Are we being good ancestors?'"

- Jonas Salk.

23. “The mind, in addition to medicine, has the power to turn the immune system around.”

- Jonas Salk.

24. “If humankind would accept and acknowledge this responsibility and become creatively engaged in the process of evolution, consciously as well as unconsciously, a new reality would emerge, and a new age could be born.”

- Jonas Salk.

Famous Quotes By Jonas Salk

Jonas Salk quotes are not only famous in the New York City but in the rest of the world as well. People all over the world appreciate Jonas Salk quotes as much as New York City does. Check out these famous Jonas Salk quotes.

25. “Nothing happens quite by chance. It's a question of accretion of information and experience.”

- Jonas Salk.

26. “In my view, art and the approach to life through art, using it as a vehicle for education and even for doing science is so vital that it is part of a great new revolution that is taking place. I believe we are entering a whole new epoch.”

- Jonas Salk.

27. “I feel that the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.”

- Jonas Salk.

28. “Good parents give their children roots and wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away, and exercise what's been taught them.”

- Jonas Salk.

29. “There is no such thing as failure; there's just giving up too soon.”

- Jonas Salk.

30. “What people think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question.”

-Jonas Salk.

31. “Risks, I like to say, always pay off. You learn what to do, or what not to do.”

-Jonas Salk.

32. “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

- Jonas Salk.

33. “Life is an error-making and an error-correcting process.”

- Jonas Salk.

34. "As a child, I was not interested in science. I was merely interested in things human, the human side of nature if you like, and I continue to be interested in that. That's what motivates me."

- Jonas Salk.

35. “Find the right questions. You don't invent the answers, you reveal the answers.”

- Jonas Salk.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Jonas Salk quotes then why not take a look at Alan Turing quotes, or wellness Wednesday quotes.

Main image credit: spatuletail / Shutterstock.com

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Written by Anusuya Mukherjee

Bachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

Anusuya Mukherjee picture

Anusuya MukherjeeBachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

With a wealth of international experience spanning Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East, Anusuya brings a unique perspective to her work as a Content Assistant and Content Updating Coordinator. She holds a law degree from India and has practiced law in India and Kuwait. Anusuya is a fan of rap music and enjoys a good cup of coffee in her free time. Currently, she is working on her novel, "Mr. Ivory Merchant".

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