E. O. Wilson quotes - page 3

The essence of humanity's spiritual dilemma is that we evolved genetically to accept one truth and discovered another. Is there a way to erase the dilemma, to resolve the contradictions between the transcendentalist and the empiricist world views? (E. O. Wilson)
A very Faustian choice is upon us: whether to accept our corrosive and risky behavior as the unavoidable price of population and economic growth, or to take stock of ourselves and search for a new environmental ethic. View quote
E. O. Wilson
To the extent that philosophical positions both confuse us and close doors to further inquiry, they are likely to be wrong. View quote
E. O. Wilson
Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science. View quote
E. O. Wilson
By any reasonable measure of achievement, the faith of the Enlightenment thinkers in science was justified. View quote
E. O. Wilson
Adults forget the depths of languor into which the adolescent mind decends with ease. They are prone to undervalue the mental growth that occurs during daydreaming and aimless wandering. View quote
E. O. Wilson
The human mind evolved to believe in the gods. It did not evolve to believe in biology. View quote
E. O. Wilson
Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important revelation of all! Could it be that they were not really privy to the thoughts of God? View quote
E. O. Wilson
Ants have the most complicated social organization on earth next to humans. View quote
E. O. Wilson
It's obvious that the key problem facing humanity in the coming century is how to bring a better quality of life - for 8 billion or more people - without wrecking the environment entirely in the attempt. View quote
E. O. Wilson
I'm very much a Christian in ideals and ethics, especially in terms of belief in fairness, a deep set obligation to others, and the virtues of charity, tolerance and generosity that we associate with traditional Christian teaching. (E. O. Wilson)
I interpret contemporary human social behavior to comprise hypertrophic outgrowths of the simpler features of human nature joined together into an irregular mosaic. View quote
E. O. Wilson
We seem to be able to be fully comfortable only when the remainder of humanity can be labeled as members versus nonmembers. View quote
E. O. Wilson
The mosquito is an automaton. It can afford to be nothing else. View quote
E. O. Wilson
The most peaceable tribes of today were often ravagers of yesteryear and will probably again produce soldiers and murderers in the future. View quote
E. O. Wilson
My definition of a scientist is that you can complete the following sentence: ‘he or she has shown that... View quote
E. O. Wilson
We can search among the unconscious, emotion-laden learning rules for the kind of behavior most directly influenced by genetic evolution. View quote
E. O. Wilson
The borderline between normal and schizophrenic people is broad and nearly imperceptible. View quote
E. O. Wilson
We are not compelled to believe in biological uniformity in order to affirm human freedom and dignity. View quote
E. O. Wilson
We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology. View quote
E. O. Wilson
Wonderful theory, wrong species. (E. O. Wilson)
Karl Marx was right, socialism works, it is just that he had the wrong species. View quote
E. O. Wilson
One planet, one experiment. View quote
E. O. Wilson
The love of complexity without reductionism makes art; the love of complexity with reductionism makes science. View quote
E. O. Wilson
The great challenge of the twenty-first century is to raise people everywhere to a decent standard of living while preserving as much of the rest of life as possible. View quote
E. O. Wilson