That is the great mystery of human evolution: how to account for calculus and Mozart. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
To genetic evolution, the human lineage has added the parallel track of cultural evolution. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The variety of genes on the planet in viruses exceeds, or is likely to exceed, that in all of the rest of… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
I tend to believe that religious dogma is a consequence of evolution. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Evolution by natural selection is not an idle hypothesis. The genetic variation on which selection acts is well understood in principle all… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Human beings function better if they are deceived by their genes into thinking that there is a disinterested objective morality binding upon… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Of course, there is no reconciliation between the theory of evolution by natural selection and the traditional religious view of the origin… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Every native species, however humble in appearance...has its place in the nation's heritage. It is a masterpiece of evolution, an ancient, multifaceted… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
In the process of natural selection, then, any device that can insert a higher proportion of certain genes into subsequent generations will… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
What's been gratifying is to live long enough to see molecular biology and evolutionary biology growing toward each other and uniting in… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
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… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important revelation of all! Could it be that they… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Each of these [bacterial] species are masterpieces of evolution. Each has persisted for thousands to millions of years. Each is exquisitely adapted… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The great paradox of determinism and free will, which has held the attention of the wisest of philosophers and psychologists for generations,… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Real biologists who actually do the research will tell you that they almost never find a phenomenon, no matter how odd or… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Yes, the natural sciences are telling us a great deal about human origins, the origins of our species the origins of our… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
These slender little people (Homo Habilis), the size of modern 12 year olds, were devoid of fangs and claws and almost certainly… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The cost of scientific advance is the humbling recognition that reality was not constructed to be easily grasped by the human mind.… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Mating Strategy is influenced by the cardinal fact that women have more at stake in sexual activity than men, because of the… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The genes hold culture on a leash. The leash is very long, but inevitably values will be constrained in accordance with their… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Biology is a science of three dimensions. The first is the study of each species across all levels of biological organization, molecule… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
No species ... possesses a purpose beyond the imperatives created by genetic history ... The human mind is a device for survival… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
To be anthropocentric is to remain unaware of the limits of human nature, the significance of biological processes underlying human behavior, and… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Progress, then, is a property of the evolution of life as a whole by almost any conceivable intuitive standard… let us not… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Darwin's dice have rolled badly for Earth. The human species is, in a word, an environmental abnormality. Perhaps a law of evolution… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Women are extraordinary in lacking the estrus, or period of heat. The females of most other primate species become sexually active, to… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The newborn infant is now seen to be wired with awesome precision... This marvelous robot will be launched into the world under… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
So in my freshman year at the University of Alabama, learning the literature on evolution, what was known about it biologically, just… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The second half of the 20th century was a golden age of molecular biology, and it was one of the golden ages… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
In fact, nothing in science as a whole has been more firmly established by interwoven factual information, or more illuminating than the… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The green prehuman earth is the mystery we were chosen to solve, a guide to the birthplace of our spirit, but it… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
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… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
Competing is intense among humans, and within a group, selfish individuals always win. But in contests between groups, groups of altruists always beat groups… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
The commitment must be much deeper - to let no species knowingly die; to take all reasonable action to protect every species and race… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
Science is not marginal. Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of our species'… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is dependent on… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
The biological evolutionary perception of life and of human qualities is radically different from that of traditional religion, whether it's Southern Baptist or Islam… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
In many environments, take away the ants and there would be partial collapses in many of the land ecosystems. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
If those committed to the quest fail, they will be forgiven. When lost, they will find another way. The moral imperative of humanism is… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
The extinctions ongoing worldwide promise to be at least as great as the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the age of… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
Most people are surprised when they hear my somber figures: we know of 2 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms, and we can… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
The variety of genes on the planet in viruses exceeds, or is likely to exceed, that in all of the rest of life combined. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share
![“Each of these [bacterial] species are masterpieces of evolution. Each has persisted for thousands to millions of years. Each is exquisitely adapted to the environment in which it lives, interlocked with other species to form ecosystems upon which our own lives depend in ways we have not begun even…” quote by E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/7bf/e-o-wilson-1348_adapted_each-of-these-bacterial-species-are-mast_1047978.jpg)
