Alexander Fleming

The public looks for miracles. We scientists look for facts.

My laboratory was always a bit chaotic, but I knew where everything was.

The most important thing in science is not to get discouraged by failures.

I never thought of myself as a genius. I just kept looking.

The discovery of penicillin was a matter of chance, but the application of it was a matter of hard work.

I have always been interested in the effect of one microbe on another.

It is not enough to discover a thing; one must also know how to use it.

My greatest satisfaction comes from knowing that my work has saved countless lives.

The bacteriologist must be a patient man.

I did not invent penicillin. Nature did that. I only discovered it by accident.

It is the lone worker who makes the first advance in a subject; the details may be worked out by a team, but the prime idea is due to enterprise, thought, and perception of an individual.

Penicillin sat on my bench for ten years while I was called a quack.

The unprepared mind cannot see the outstretched hand of opportunity.

I was just a dirty old man who left his dishes unwashed.

That's funny.

Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy.

A good gulp of hot whisky at bedtime—it's not very scientific, but it helps.

If penicillin can cure those that are ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life.

I play with microbes. There are, of course, many rules to this play...but when you have acquired knowledge and experience it is very pleasant to break the rules and to be able to find something nobody has thought of.

I found penicillin and have given it free for the benefit of humanity. Why should it become a profit-making monopoly of manufacturers in another country?