In science, obsessiveness under psychological control can be a virtue. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
No barrier stands between the material world of science and the sensibilities of the hunter and the poet, — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
To know how scientists engage in visual imagery is to understand how they think creatively. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Much of good science and perhaps all of great science has its roots in fantasy. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
[The natural world cleans water, pollinates plants and provides pharmaceuticals, among many other gifts.] Thirty trillion dollars worth of services, scot-free to… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds... is not productive. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
I believe that traditional religious belief and scientific knowledge depict the universe in radically different ways. At the bedrock they are incompatible… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
To search for unasked questions, plus questions to put to already acquired but unsought answers, it is vital to give full play… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Far more important throughout the rest of science is the ability to form concepts, during which the researcher conjures images and processes… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Biophilia, if it exists, and I believe it exists, is the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
By any reasonable measure of achievement, the faith of the Enlightenment thinkers in science was justified. — 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
Known as the biosphere to scientists and as the creation to theologians, all of life together consists of a membrane around earth… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Biology has finally opened up to achieve a unifying embrace of all its disciplines. We're seeing the renaissance of what could be… — 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
Science offers the boldest metaphysics of the age. It is a thoroughly human construct, driven by the faith that if we dream,… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Science is not marginal. Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The big question that scientists haven't even begun to get an answer for is how many species of microorganisms are there? Now,… — 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
The students of biodiversity, the ones we most need in science today, have an enormous task ahead of molecular biology and the… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Without the instruments and accumulated knowledge of the natural sciences... humans are trapped in a cognitive prison. They are like intelligent fish… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Now when you cut a forest, an ancient forest in particular, you are not just removing a lot of big trees and… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
A paradigm shift is the best a scientist can hope for. Whenever I smell an opportunity like that, I go after it.… — 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
In the early stages of creation of both art and science, everything in the mind is a story. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us. Soon we must look… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
It may be argued that to know one kind of beetle is to know them all. But a species is not like… — 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 growth of a naturalist is like the growth of a musician or athlete: excellence for the talented, lifelong enjoyment for the… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
In the attempt to make scientific discoveries, every problem is an opportunity — and the more difficult the problem, the greater will… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Blind faith, no matter how passionately expressed, will not suffice. Science for its part will test relentlessly every assumption about the human… — 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
The cutting of primeval forest and other disasters, fueled by the demands of growing human populations, are the overriding threat to biological… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
In a purely technical sense, each species of higher organism-beetle, moss, and so forth, is richer in information than a Caravaggio painting,… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
[T]he true natural sciences lock together in theory and evidence to form the ineradicable technical base of modern civilization. The pseudosciences satisfy… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
By any reasonable measure of achievement, the faith of the Enlightenment thinkers in science was justified. Today the greatest divide within humanity… — 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
![“Go as far as you can, [young scientists]. The world needs you badly.” quote by E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/590/e-o-wilson-1348_need-you_go-as-far-as-you-can-young-scientists-th_616011.png)
![“[The natural world cleans water, pollinates plants and provides pharmaceuticals, among many other gifts.] Thirty trillion dollars worth of services, scot-free to humanity, every year.” quote by E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/869/e-o-wilson-1348_dollars_the-natural-world-cleans-water-pollinate_253878.png)
![“[T]he true natural sciences lock together in theory and evidence to form the ineradicable technical base of modern civilization. The pseudosciences satisfy personal psychological needs... but lack the ideas or the means to contribute to the technical base.” quote by E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/db8/e-o-wilson-1348_civilization_t-he-true-natural-sciences-lock-together_2419733.png)
