"There exist mysterious links between language and the human brain; and the heartless and brutal way in which language is used in our times, as if it were only a power tool in public relations, a shortcut from sly producer to gullible consumer, has always seemed to me the most threatening portent of incipient bestialization. It is frightening to observe that a progressive aphasia, not organically determined, appears to overtake large numbers of people, especially in this country, who seem to be unable to express themselves except by hoarse barks and (undeleted) expletives. The gift of tongues, not explainable on the basis of natural selection, is the true attribute of Menschwerdung (hominization/humanization); and it is only fitting that it is revoked shortly before the tails are beginning to grow."

By Erwin Chargaff, "A Fever of Reason: The Early Way",
Annual Review of Biochemistry 1975.44:1-20.
(An expanded version of this article can be found in his autobiographical book,
"Heraclitean Fire: Sketches from a Life before Nature",
The Rockefeller University Press New York 1978.)
Erwin Chargaff was one of the founding fathers of Molecular Biology along with
Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick.