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Who really said it

In science we should be interested in things, not persons

Attributed to Marie Curie 1867–1934 · Physicist and chemist, two-time Nobel laureate
Attributed Free to reuse

The exact words appear in Marie Mattingly Meloney’s introduction to the 1923 English edition of Marie Curie’s Pierre Curie, where Meloney reports Curie saying them to her. In the body of the same book, Curie says it was Pierre who “held that in science we should be interested in things and not in persons.” Quote Investigator ↗ suggests crediting both.

Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“In science we should be interested in things, not persons” Marie Curie, as quoted by Marie Mattingly Meloney in her introduction to Marie Curie, Pierre Curie (New York: Macmillan, 1923). In the same book Curie credits the principle to Pierre Curie.

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Provenance

Where the words appear

Work
Pierre Curie
Author
Marie Curie, with an introduction by Mrs. William Brown Meloney (Marie Mattingly Meloney)
Translation
Main text translated by Charlotte and Vernon Kellogg
Published
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1923

It is with much hesitancy that I venture to write a preface to this book. She once chided me, in her gentle way, for an article in which I had stated facts with some feeling—although the facts praised her. “In science,” she said, “we should be interested in things, not persons.” From Meloney’s introduction

Meloney ends her introduction with the same words, calling them Curie’s “conviction, her philosophy.” Later in the book, in the Kelloggs’ translation, Curie credits the idea to Pierre: “For he held that in science we should be interested in things and not in persons.”

1923 edition, full text
Pierre Curie (Macmillan, 1923) on Project Gutenberg
Read the 1923 introduction on Project Gutenberg

The paper trail

  • 1923: In her introduction to Pierre Curie (New York: Macmillan), Marie Mattingly Meloney recalls Curie saying, “In science,” … “we should be interested in things, not persons.” Full text ↗
  • 1923, same book: Curie writes that Pierre “held that in science we should be interested in things and not in persons,” which credits the principle to her husband. Full text ↗
  • 1937: Ève Curie’s biography of her mother repeats the idea, attributed to Marie. Wikiquote lists the English variant “In science, we must be interested in things, not in persons,” citing Madame Curie: A Biography (1937), translated by Vincent Sheean. Wikiquote ↗
  • 2021: Quote Investigator surveys the 1923 and later sources and concludes, “Perhaps it is best to ascribe the remark to both.” Quote Investigator ↗
Public domain

The wording shown comes from the 1923 Macmillan (New York) edition of Pierre Curie, a work first published in the U.S. before 1931. Project Gutenberg ↗ lists this edition as public domain in the USA. Later wordings, such as the 1937 Sheean translation of Ève Curie’s biography, are separate works and are not covered by this note.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Who gets the credit?

Quote sites give this line to Marie Curie alone. The earliest printed sources tell a messier story: one 1923 book credits it to Marie in one place and to Pierre in another.

Marie Curie (alone) Partly right

Meloney’s 1923 introduction reports Curie saying the exact words. That is a secondhand report, though, and in the same book Curie gives the principle to Pierre. 1923 text ↗

Pierre Curie Credited by Marie herself

In Pierre Curie, Marie writes of her husband: “For he held that in science we should be interested in things and not in persons.” Quote Investigator notes that a 1923 French magazine article by Marie, “Pierre Curie Intime,” also credits Pierre. Quote Investigator ↗

“In science, we must be interested in things, not in persons” Later translation

This is the wording of the 1937 Ève Curie biography in Vincent Sheean’s translation, as listed on Wikiquote. Wikiquote files it as a variant of “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas,” which it cites to Henry Thomas and Dana Lee Thomas, Living Adventures in Science (1972). Wikiquote ↗

Both Curies are tied to the saying in 1923 print. Marie spoke the words, according to Meloney, and Marie herself wrote that the principle was Pierre’s. Quote Investigator’s verdict: “Perhaps it is best to ascribe the remark to both.” Read the investigation ↗

Context

Why she said it

Meloney was the American magazine editor who led the campaign to give Curie a gram of radium. She tells the story against herself: she had written an article that “stated facts with some feeling,” even though the facts praised Curie, and Curie gently scolded her for it. The line was a rebuke to personal praise, not a slogan about method.

In the same 1923 book, Curie describes the same outlook in Pierre: credit did not matter to him, and he asked, “What does it matter if I have not published such and such investigations, if another has published them?” Whoever first put it into words, the saying records a value the two shared.

In science we should be interested in things, not persons.

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Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigatorquoteinvestigator.com

The full investigation of this quote (2021), which concludes the remark is best credited to both Curies.
Pierre Curie (1923), full textgutenberg.org

Marie Curie's biography of her husband, translated by Charlotte and Vernon Kellogg, with Meloney's introduction containing the exact line.
Wikiquote: Marie Curieen.wikiquote.org

Sourced Curie quotations, including the 1937 variant "In science, we must be interested in things, not in persons."
Madame Curie: a biography (1937)archive.org

Ève Curie's biography of her mother, translated by Vincent Sheean (lending-library copy).
Marie Curie on Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Overview of Curie's life, dates and two Nobel Prizes.

The scientist

About Marie Curie

Marie Curie

1867–1934 · Polish-French physicist & chemist

Born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw, Marie Curie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel for work on radioactivity. She won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering radium and polonium, and she remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. Her book Pierre Curie (English edition 1923) is both a memoir of her husband and the main early printed source for this saying.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Marie Mattingly Meloney, “Introduction,” in Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, trans. Charlotte and Vernon Kellogg (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1923).

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