| Proverb
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
| | I think this is
|
| 10 seconds labelling a sample saves 30 minutes identifying it later. | 48 | 0 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| 100% consumption of starting materials does not necessarily mean good reaction | 43 | 4 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Knowing the chemistry of a reaction before running it once is better than running it ten times without knowing anything. | 43 | 3 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| If you want to save time, do it right the first time around | 42 | 3 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| No project is ever finished faster than you thought it would be. | 39 | 2 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| A little contaminant makes a huge difference in color | 39 | 7 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| If you spend all day on the internet...you may not graduate in time. | 39 | 4 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Time is one thing you can never get back. | 37 | 1 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Extractions and Columns always take longer than you think | 37 | 10 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| No one leaves details out of a paper without a reason. | 34 | 5 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| You can never have too much starting material. | 38 | 7 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Just because you found it in literature doesn't mean it's correct | 33 | 10 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Just because your advisor references a paper and so does your book doesn't mean the reaction works | 32 | 5 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Troubles overcome are good to tell | 31 | 5 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Golden rule of organic synthesis: Never throw away anything (except into a labeled flask) | 31 | 5 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| There is no try... there is do or do not | 33 | 4 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Getting a PhD isn't about intelligence, it's about perseverance. | 29 | 16 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The more you learn, the dumber you feel | 29 | 5 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| assumption is the mother of all screw-ups | 27 | 5 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Don't have time to do it right, but have time to do it again? | 27 | 14 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| One chemist's side product/decomp is another chemists target. | 25 | 6 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| You don't have to be the smartest student in graduate school, just don't be the slowest buffalo in the herd. | 26 | 4 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Cleanliness is next to success | 27 | 9 | 6
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| reactions do not run themselves | 21 | 14 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Let it sit, and it goes to sh*&. | 24 | 4 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| First time reactions are best run on a few mg's, no matter how simple they seem. | 20 | 7 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Its always the last but one step of the synthetic scheme that doesn't work | 26 | 6 | 6
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Never do a column on a friday afternoon | 25 | 10 | 6
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. | 23 | 4 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Be one with the reaction. | 21 | 14 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate | 19 | 15 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Expensive glassware begs to be broken | 21 | 7 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Just because you found it in literature doesn't mean it's correct | 23 | 4 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Always keep the supervisor out of the lab: A one hour visit by The Old Man can set you back a month. | 22 | 17 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| the more you get,the more you want | 18 | 7 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Scale it up? Go BIG or GO HOME! | 21 | 5 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The more you try the luckier you get. | 19 | 4 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Experiments should be boring - explosions are NOT FUN | 23 | 7 | 6
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Never just do one thing at a time. | 20 | 10 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| It's not the cage that sings, it's the bird inside. | 18 | 9 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Decomp is never that far away. | 18 | 5 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The success of a reaction is inversely proportional to the value you attach to it | 17 | 10 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Change or you will be changed | 19 | 9 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| No one ever spends as much time in the lab as they think they need to-just more than they know they want to. | 17 | 8 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| too much analysis leads to paralysis | 17 | 5 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The best solution to handwaving is DTFE ("Do the F*&ng Experiment") | 21 | 5 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Q: What's all that brown precipitate floating around? A: Probably your product. Filter it off and see. | 21 | 10 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Always run a crude NMR | 17 | 11 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| If it is highly colored, you will spill it on yourself. | 18 | 8 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The worse it smells, the greater chance that it will bump. | 16 | 4 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The flask only falls when you are not there to catch it. | 20 | 5 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| If you don't get what you like, try to like what you get. | 16 | 5 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Yields go down faster, easier, and with less warning than they go up. | 18 | 4 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Cowboy first. You can be more careful later. And you'll know you have to be in the future. | 22 | 9 | 8
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| your path to a PhD is a straight line between two dots. Most people follow a squiggle path. You DONT want to orbit (the first dot). | 19 | 7 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Rearrangements happen. | 16 | 4 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| A day in the library can save a week in the hospital | 19 | 5 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| you have to bend kness more while u r sitting than walking | 14 | 8 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Don't assume the reaction will work...It won't work until next month. | 17 | 3 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Projects take as much time as you give yourself. | 17 | 4 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Measure twice and cut (react) once | 18 | 4 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| There are two kinds of people, those who finish and those who do not. | 17 | 2 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| garbage in, garbage out | 16 | 6 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| There are NO trivial reactions. | 16 | 6 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| the more you give the more you get | 13 | 9 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The work isn't done until the pigs are fed, watered and ready to fly! | 21 | 4 | 9
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Anything is possible with a small equilibrium. | 13 | 6 | 1
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Hofstadter's Law: Everything takes longer than you think it will, even if you take into account Hofstadter's Law. | 15 | 2 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Everyone's got problems - only Chemists have Solutions! | 14 | 8 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| A gram in hand is worth two in the flask | 13 | 4 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The flask is our canvas...the periodic table is our paint. | 12 | 5 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| the more you get,the more you want | 12 | 6 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| A Ph.D. guide is a person whom you have to guide | 11 | 9 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Boiling is an uncomfortable phase | 13 | 3 | 4
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Only a dry solvent is a good solvent. | 11 | 10 | 3
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Love your chemistry, chemistry will love you! | 17 | 3 | 9
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| A week in the lab can save you a day in the library. | 17 | 13 | 9
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Never trust a label. | 9 | 14 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| do not reinvent the wheel | 12 | 5 | 5
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| garbage in/ garbage out | 12 | 4 | 7
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| There is no better action than over-reaction. | 16 | 3 | 13
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Dropped glassware always breaks on the third bounce. | 12 | 5 | 10
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| PhD %3D PHinally Done | 2 | 0 | 0
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The bigger the coffee cup, the better the chemist. | 11 | 8 | 10
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| If it was easy it wouldn't be worth such a fancy degree. | 11 | 8 | 10
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Gloves are for wimps | 1 | 0 | 2
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Two weeks in the lab can save a day in the library | 7 | 7 | 8
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| five percent equals ninety five percent! It is only a question of optimization... | 12 | 13 | 13
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| When in doubt, throw it out. | 8 | 10 | 12
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Excess equals success. | 8 | 9 | 13
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Just carry it on to the next step, it'll be easier to purify and isolate later. | 12 | 6 | 21
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| Real chemists pee in the sink | 13 | 7 | 26
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| The more frequently you TLC a reaction, the sooner it goes to completion. | 7 | 4 | 30
| Absolutely true
| Something to think about
| Nonsense
|
| | | | |
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