Humanity needs a vision of an expanding and unending future. E. O. Wilson More Quotes by E. O. Wilson More Quotes From E. O. Wilson We don't know nearly enough about the complexities of Nature. If we think we can eliminate natural ecosystems and substitute prosthetic devices, i.e. clean air or water with fusion energy - we are kidding ourselves. E. O. Wilson ecosystemsairthinking Women are extraordinary in lacking the estrus, or period of heat. The females of most other primate species become sexually active, to the point of aggression, only at the time of ovulation. Why has sexual responsiveness become nearly continuous? Unusually frequent sexual activity between males and females served as the principle device for cementing the pair bond. E. O. Wilson pairsmalesprinciples Old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false. E. O. Wilson ldsfaithreligion The genes hold culture on a leash. The leash is very long, but inevitably values will be constrained in accordance with their effects on the human gene pool. The brain is a product of evolution. Human behavior-like the deepest capacities for emotional respone which drive and guide it-is the circuitous technique by which human genetic material has been and will be kept intact. E. O. Wilson emotionalsciencelong I want us to save the creation-not just care about it, but to save it. E. O. Wilson creationcarewant The closer the genetic relationship of the family members, as for example father-to-son, as opposed to uncle-to-nephew, the higher the degree of cooperation. E. O. Wilson unclesfatherson Consider the nematode roundworm, the most abundant of all animals. Four out of five animals on Earth are nematode worms — if all solid materials except nematode worms were to be eliminated, you could still see the ghostly outline of most of it in nematode worms. E. O. Wilson motivationinspirationanimal The great paradox of determinism and free will, which has held the attention of the wisest of philosophers and psychologists for generations, can be phrased in more biological terms as follows: If our genes are inherited, and our environment is a train of physical events set in motion before we were born, how can there be a truly independent agent within the brain? The agent itself is created by the interaction of the genes and the environment. It would appear that our freedom is only a self delusion. E. O. Wilson independentselfbrain No barrier stands between the material world of science and the sensibilities of the hunter and the poet. E. O. Wilson hunterspoetworld The commitment must be much deeper - to let no species knowingly die; to take all reasonable action to protect every species and race in perpetuity. E. O. Wilson natureracecommitment The extinctions ongoing worldwide promise to be at least as great as the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the age of dinosaurs. E. O. Wilson mass-extinctionagepromise 'The Creation' presents an argument for saving biological diversity on Earth. Most of the book is for as broad an audience as possible. E. O. Wilson diversityearthbook True character arises from a deeper well than religion. It is the internalization of moral principles of a society, augmented by those tenets personally chosen by the individual, strong enough to endure through trials of solitude and adversity. The principles are fitted together into what we call integrity, literally the integrated self, wherein personal decisions feel good and true. Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others. E. O. Wilson strongintegritycharacter The human juggernaut is permanently eroding Earth's ancient biosphere. E. O. Wilson juggernautancientearth Common sense is merely unaided intuition, and unaided intuition is reasoning performed in the absense of instruments and the tested knowledge of science. Common sense tells us that massive satellites cannot hang suspended 36,000 kilometers above the one point on the earth's surface, but they do. E. O. Wilson common-senseintuitionearth The work on ants has profoundly affected the way I think about humans. E. O. Wilson antswaythinking The ant world is a tumult, a noisy world of pheromones being passed back and forth. E. O. Wilson pheromonesantsworld That is the great mystery of human evolution: how to account for calculus and Mozart. E. O. Wilson calculusmysteryevolution Progress, then, is a property of the evolution of life as a whole by almost any conceivable intuitive standard.... let us not pretend to deny in our philosophy what we know in our hearts to be true. E. O. Wilson progressheartphilosophy People respect nonfiction but they read novels. E. O. Wilson nonfictionnovelpeople
