Sstudying ants just quickly became part of me because I was allowed to wander, explore and find things and figure things out myself. And I saw how much was there and what could be done and how I could make a life of it. E. O. Wilson More Quotes by E. O. Wilson More Quotes From E. O. Wilson We have to create a sustainable environment, worldwide, and we're not doing it. The best thing we can do with the rest of this century is aggressively acquire - and put aside - the richest natural reserves that we can, and then do our best to manage the needs and desires of the 11 billion people we expect to have by the end of the century. This is where biology is headed. For that reason, the sooner we get on with mapping biodiversity on Earth, the better off biology will be - not to mention the whole subject of saving it before we carelessly throw it away. E. O. Wilson earth desire people Biophilia: the innate pleasure from living abundance and diversity as manifested by the human impulse to imitate Nature with gardens. E. O. Wilson garden nature life No species ... possesses a purpose beyond the imperatives created by genetic history ... The human mind is a device for survival and reproduction, and reason is just one of its various techniques. E. O. Wilson survival technique mind [Bacteria are the] dark matter of the biological world [with 4 million mostly unknown species in a ton of soil]. E. O. Wilson matter dark world I like what Abba Eban once said during the 1967 war. He said, "When all else fails, men turn to reason." E. O. Wilson failing reason men If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth. E. O. Wilson taught-us passion desire No one knows the diversity in the world, not even to the nearest order of magnitude. ... We don't know for sure how many species there are, where they can be found or how fast they're disappearing. It's like having astronomy without knowing where the stars are. E. O. Wilson stars knowing order In a purely technical sense, each species of higher organism-beetle, moss, and so forth, is richer in information than a Caravaggio painting, Mozart symphony, or any other great work of art. E. O. Wilson symphony science art Biophilia, if it exists, and I believe it exists, is the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. E. O. Wilson emotional science believe Let us see how high we can fly before the sun melts the wax in our wings. E. O. Wilson ambition science knowledge Secular humanists can sit around and talk about their love of humanity, but it doesn't stack up against a two-millennium-old funeral high mass. E. O. Wilson funeral humanity two Ants make up two-thirds of the biomass of all the insects. There are millions of species of organisms and we know almost nothing about them. E. O. Wilson insects ants two Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science. E. O. Wilson political ideology mind In science, you really do need to have a purpose-driven life. You will succeed to the extent that you get the most out of your career so that you can give the most back. Try to be an addict, driven to achieve discoveries, learning new things, and then writing about them. E. O. Wilson careers writing discovery Ants have the most complicated social organization on earth next to humans. E. O. Wilson next organization earth 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? E. O. Wilson biblical important religion Every kid has a bug period... I never grew out of mine. E. O. Wilson grew bugs kids 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 essence spiritual views All my life I have placed great store in civility and good manners, practices I find scarce among the often hard-edged, badly socialized scientists with whom I associate. Tone of voice means a great deal to me in the course of debate. I despise the arrogance and doting self-regard so frequently found among the very bright. E. O. Wilson practice self mean Jungles and grasslands are the logical destinations, and towns and farmland the labyrinths that people have imposed between them sometime in the past. I cherish the green enclaves accidentally left behind. E. O. Wilson labyrinth people past
