It's always been a dream of mine, of exploring the living world, of classifying all the species and finding out what makes up the biosphere. E. O. Wilson More Quotes by E. O. Wilson More Quotes From E. O. Wilson Be prepared mentally for some amount of chaos and failure. Waste and frustration often attend the earliest stages. E. O. Wilson chaos waste frustration In science, obsessiveness under psychological control can be a virtue. E. O. Wilson virtue psychological Man's destiny is to know, if only because societies with knowledge culturally dominate societies that lack it. Luddites and anti-intellectuals do not master the differential equations of thermodynamics or the biochemical cures of illness. They stay in thatched huts and die young. E. O. Wilson illness destiny men People yearn to be in one of the best--a combat marine regiment, an elite college, the executive committee of a company, a religious sect, a fraternity, a garden club--any collectivity that can be compared favorably with other, competing groups. E. O. Wilson marine college religious Our brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it's a map with constant immediate sensory input. E. O. Wilson maps brain world For me, the peculiar qualities of faith are a logical outcome of this level of biological organization. E. O. Wilson quality levels organization The beginning of wisdom, as the Chinese say, is calling things by their right names. E. O. Wilson chinese calling names Once I feel I'm right, I have enjoyed provoking. E. O. Wilson provoking enjoyed feels People must belong to a tribe; they yearn to have a purpose larger than themselves. We are obligated by the deepest drives of the human spirit to make ourselves more than animated dust, and we must have a story to tell about where we came from, and why we are here. E. O. Wilson dust purpose people The human mind evolved to believe in the gods. It did not evolve to believe in biology. E. O. Wilson mind believe religion Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds... is not productive. E. O. Wilson powerful odds two I doubt that most people with short-term thinking love the natural world enough to save it. E. O. Wilson doubt people thinking I think we will make it. Because one quality people have - certainly Americans have it - is that they can adapt when they see necessity staring them in the face. What to avoid is what someone once called the definition of hell: truth realized too late. E. O. Wilson quality people thinking Hands-on experience at the critical time, not systematic knowledge, is what counts in the making of a naturalist. Better to be an untutored savage for a while, not to know the names or anatomical detail. Better to spend stretches of time just searching and dreaming. E. O. Wilson names dream hands America in particular imposes an horrendous burden on the world. We have this wonderful standard of living but it comes at enormous cost. E. O. Wilson cost america world I grew up as a Southern Baptist with strict adherence to the Bible, which I read as a youngster. E. O. Wilson baptists adherence southern Ideas emerge when a part of the real or imagined world is studied for its own sake. E. O. Wilson real sake ideas Humanity needs a vision of an expanding and unending future. E. O. Wilson vision humanity needs The evolutionary epic is ... the best myth we will ever have. E. O. Wilson myth epic What we need is an electronic encyclopedia of life, with one page for each species. On each page is given everything known about that species. E. O. Wilson given pages needs
