--- title: "4 Comparison Quotes By Stephen Jay Gould" description: "4 Comparison quotes by Stephen Jay Gould. Plus more from Stephen Jay Gould and more Comparison sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/stephen-jay-gould-885_book_i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-bo_184795.png" --- > [I love to read the dedications of old books written in monarchies for they invariably honor some (usually insignificant) knight or duke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-books-written-in-monarchies-for/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/stephen-jay-gould-885_book_i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-bo_184795.png) > [Antiessentialist thinking forces us to view the world differently. We must accept shadings and continua as fundamental. We lose criteria for judgment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/antiessentialist-thinking-forces-us-to-view-the-world-differently-we/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/stephen-jay-gould-885_accepting_antiessentialist-thinking-forces-us-to-v_556228.png) > [“The facts of nature are what they are, but we can only view them through the spectacles of our mind. Our mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-facts-of-nature-are-what-they-are-but-we-can-only-view-them/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/stephen-jay-gould-885_agents_the-facts-of-nature-are-what-they-are-bu_2196334.jpg) > [Recapitulation provided a convenient focus for the persuasive racism of white scientists; they looked to the activities of their own children for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/recapitulation-provided-a-convenient-focus-for-the-persuasive-racism/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfe/stephen-jay-gould-885_activity_recapitulation-provided-a-convenient-foc_2844501.png) ## Other authors on Comparison - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-david-thoreau-41473.jpg) Henry David Thoreau 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/henry-david-thoreau/) - [Samuel Johnson 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/samuel-johnson/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rajneesh-77002.jpg) Rajneesh 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/rajneesh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-albert-bandura-10476.jpg) Albert Bandura 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/albert-bandura/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-euginia-herlihy-998.jpg) Euginia Herlihy 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/euginia-herlihy/) ## More by Stephen Jay Gould > [I strongly reject any conceptual scheme that places our options on a line, and holds that the only alternative to a pair of extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-strongly-reject-any-conceptual-scheme-that-places-our-options-on-a/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/history-employs-evolution-to-structure-biological-events-in-time/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. In fact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/many-folks-take-them-seriously-because-they-just-know-that-evolution/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/charles-darwin-viewed-the-fossil-record-more-as-an-embarrassment-than/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Zoocentrism is the primary fallacy of human sociobiology, for this view of human behavior rests on the argument that if the actions of "lower"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/zoocentrism-is-the-primary-fallacy-of-human-sociobiology-for-this/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The world, unfortunately, rarely matches our hopes and consistently refuses to behave in a reasonable manner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-world-unfortunately-rarely-matches-our-hopes-and-consistently/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The true beauty of nature is her amplitude; she exists neither for nor because of us, and possesses a staying power that all our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-true-beauty-of-nature-is-her-amplitude-she-exists-neither-for-nor/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [With copious evidence ranging from Plato's haughtiness to Beethoven's tirades, we may conclude that the most brilliant people of history tend to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/with-copious-evidence-ranging-from-plato-s-haughtiness-to-beethoven-s/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [When scientists need to explain difficult points of theory, illustration by hypothetical example - rather than by total abstraction - works well (perhaps indispensably)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/when-scientists-need-to-explain-difficult-points-of-theory/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The truly awesome intellectuals in our history have not merely made discoveries; they have woven variegated, but firm, tapestries of comprehensive coverage. The tapestries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-truly-awesome-intellectuals-in-our-history-have-not-merely-made/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-believe-that-we-can-still-have-a-genre-of-scientific-books-suitable/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Science simply cannot adjudicate the issue of God's possible superintendence of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/science-simply-cannot-adjudicate-the-issue-of-god-s-possible/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [But if we laugh with derision, we will never understand. Human intellectual capacity has not altered for thousands of years so far as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/but-if-we-laugh-with-derision-we-will-never-understand-human/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [We debase the richness of both nature and our own minds if we view the great pageant of our intellectual history as a compendium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-debase-the-richness-of-both-nature-and-our-own-minds-if-we-view/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/stephen-jay-gould/#itemlist", "name": "4 Comparison Quotes By Stephen Jay Gould", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I love to read the dedications of old books written in monarchies for they invariably honor some (usually insignificant) knight or duke with fulsome words of sycophantic insincerity, praising him as the light of the universe (in hopes, no doubt, for a few ducats to support future work); this old practice makes me feel like such an honest and upright man, by comparison, when I put a positive spin, perhaps ever so slightly exaggerated, on a grant proposal.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Jay Gould" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-books-written-in-monarchies-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/stephen-jay-gould-885_book_i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-bo_184795.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/stephen-jay-gould-885_book_i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-bo_184795.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/stephen-jay-gould-885_book_i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-bo_184795.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I love to read the dedications of old books written in monarchies for they invariably honor some (usually…” — Stephen Jay Gould", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Antiessentialist thinking forces us to view the world differently. 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When we are caught in conceptual traps, the best exit is often a change in metaphor — not because the new guideline will be truer to nature (for neither the old nor the new metaphor lies “out there” in the woods), but because we need a shift to more fruitful perspectives, and metaphor is often the best agent of conceptual transition.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Jay Gould" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-facts-of-nature-are-what-they-are-but-we-can-only-view-them/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/stephen-jay-gould-885_agents_the-facts-of-nature-are-what-they-are-bu_2196334.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/stephen-jay-gould-885_agents_the-facts-of-nature-are-what-they-are-bu_2196334.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/stephen-jay-gould-885_agents_the-facts-of-nature-are-what-they-are-bu_2196334.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The facts of nature are what they are, but we can only view them through the spectacles of our mind. 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