Top 60 Ed Yong Quotes (2026 Update) [Page 2]

Ed Yong Quote: “To microbes, every host is effectively an island – a world surrounded by void.”

51. “To microbes, every host is effectively an island – a world surrounded by void.”

52. “For creatures like these that are constantly immersed in liquid, the distinction between taste and smell can be so confusing that one neuroscientist just told me, “I avoid thinking about it.”

— Ed Yong

53. “Dogs have a facial muscle that can raise their inner eyebrows, giving them a soulful, plaintive expression. This muscle doesn’t exist in wolves. It’s the result of centuries of domestication, in which dog faces were inadvertently reshaped to look a bit more like ours. Those faces are now easier to read, and better at triggering a nurturing response.”

— Ed Yong

54. “If you’re slow enough, you’re just part of the background.”

— Ed Yong

55. “The brutal contract of natural selection ensures that if one partner is unnecessary, it gets dumped.”

— Ed Yong

56. “But personal responsibility cannot compensate for societal irresponsibility. To truly make a dent in sensory pollution, bigger steps are needed.”

— Ed Yong

$Ed Yong Quote: “Here is a strange but critical sentiment to introduce in a book about the benefits of living with microbes: there is no such thing as a “good microbe” or a “bad microbe”. These terms belong in children’s stories. They are ill-suited for describing the messy, fractious, contextual relationships of the natural world.”$

57. “Here is a strange but critical sentiment to introduce in a book about the benefits of living with microbes: there is no such thing as a “good microbe” or a “bad microbe”. These terms belong in children’s stories. They are ill-suited for describing the messy, fractious, contextual relationships of the natural world.”

— Ed Yong