Nomad Quotes (2 quotes)
Science would be ruined if (like sports) it were to put competition above everything else, and if it were to clarify the rules of competition by withdrawing entirely into narrowly defined specialties. The rare scholars who are nomads-by-choice are essential to the intellectual welfare of the settled disciplines.
Appended to his entry in Who’s Who. In Alan Lindsay Mackay, A Dictionary of Scientific Quotations (1991), 163.
We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships … having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.
From Discovery TV series, Into the Universe With Stephen Hawking (2010). As quoted on nbcnews.com webpage, 'Hawking: Aliens may pose risks to Earth' (25 Apr 2010). He warned that rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact.