The only phrase I've ever disliked is, 'Why, we've always done it that way.' I always tell young people, 'Go ahead and do it. You can always apologize later.'

My life is an improvisational performance.

"In computational biology, we are not just solving problems; we are uncovering the fundamental principles of life."

I was a truck driver in LA, going to City College, and I tried to sign up for a class in ceramics, but it was full. So I signed up for architecture. It was an accident.