--- title: "3 Decline Quotes By Steven Pinker" description: "3 Decline quotes by Steven Pinker. Plus more from Steven Pinker and more Decline sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e52/steven-pinker-526_centuries_the-decline-of-violence-is-a-fractal-phe_155830.jpg" --- > [The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon. You can see it over millennia, over centuries, over decades and over years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-decline-of-violence-is-a-fractal-phenomenon-you-can-see-it-over/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e52/steven-pinker-526_centuries_the-decline-of-violence-is-a-fractal-phe_155830.jpg) > [The decline of violence isn't a steady inclined plane from an original state of maximal and universal bloodshed. Technology, ideology, and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-decline-of-violence-isn-t-a-steady-inclined-plane-from-an/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/steven-pinker-526_bloodshed_the-decline-of-violence-isn-t-a-steady-i_302059.jpg) > [For all the tribulations in our lives, for all the troubles that remain in the world, the decline of violence is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/for-all-the-tribulations-in-our-lives-for-all-the-troubles-that/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a3/steven-pinker-526_accomplishment_for-all-the-tribulations-in-our-lives-fo_1894336.jpg) ## Other authors on Decline - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-milton-friedman-68333.jpg) Milton Friedman 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/milton-friedman/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-martin-jacques-64730.jpg) Martin Jacques 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/martin-jacques/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-benjamin-graham-17141.jpg) Benjamin Graham 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/benjamin-graham/) - [Samuel Johnson 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/samuel-johnson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-penelope-spheeris-74493.jpg) Penelope Spheeris 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/penelope-spheeris/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-ludwig-von-mises-61872.jpg) Ludwig von Mises 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/ludwig-von-mises/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-lester-r-brown-59929.jpg) Lester R. Brown 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/lester-r-brown/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bernie-sanders-17420.jpg) Bernie Sanders 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/bernie-sanders/) ## More by Steven Pinker > [Forcing modern speakers of English to not - whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn't done in Latin makes about as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/forcing-modern-speakers-of-english-to-not-whoops-not-to-split-an/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Consistent style prevents presentation from getting in the way of content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/consistent-style-prevents-presentation-from-getting-in-the-way-of/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [The supposedly immaterial soul, we now know, can be bisected with a knife, altered by chemicals, started or stopped by electricity, and extinguished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-supposedly-immaterial-soul-we-now-know-can-be-bisected-with-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [I've never argued that humans are massively hot-wired. What I was trying to point out was that you can't understand how we learn unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/i-ve-never-argued-that-humans-are-massively-hot-wired-what-i-was/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [As many political writers have pointed out, commitment to political equality is not an empirical claim that people are clones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/as-many-political-writers-have-pointed-out-commitment-to-political/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Since violence is largely a male pastime, cultures that empower women tend to move away from the glorification of violence and are less likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/since-violence-is-largely-a-male-pastime-cultures-that-empower-women/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [When it comes to explaining human thought and behavior, the possibility that heredity plays any role at all still has the power to shock.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/when-it-comes-to-explaining-human-thought-and-behavior-the/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Morality is not just any old topic in psychology but close to our conception of the meaning of life. Moral goodness is what gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/morality-is-not-just-any-old-topic-in-psychology-but-close-to-our/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“The biblical story of the binding of Isaac shows that human sacrifice was far from unthinkable in the 1st millennium BCE. The Israelites boasted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-biblical-story-of-the-binding-of-isaac-shows-that-human-sacrifice/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Part of the bargain of being alive is that one takes a chance at dying a premature or painful death, be it from violence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/part-of-the-bargain-of-being-alive-is-that-one-takes-a-chance-at/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [In fact, without a specification of a creature's goals, the very idea of intelligence is meaningless. A toadstool could be given a genius award…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/in-fact-without-a-specification-of-a-creature-s-goals-the-very-idea/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“The obvious cure for the tragic shortcomings of human intuition in a high-tech world is education. And this offers priorities for educational policy: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-obvious-cure-for-the-tragic-shortcomings-of-human-intuition-in-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [If you look in general at people who live in anarchy, they have quite high rates of death from either homicide or warfare or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/if-you-look-in-general-at-people-who-live-in-anarchy-they-have-quite/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“In some eras, self-control defines the paragon of a decent person: a grown-up, a person of dignity, a lady or a gentleman, a mensch.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/in-some-eras-self-control-defines-the-paragon-of-a-decent-person-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Knowledge is a continuous fabric, in which ideas are connected to other ideas. Reason-free zones, in which people can assert arbitrary beliefs safe from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/knowledge-is-a-continuous-fabric-in-which-ideas-are-connected-to/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/steven-pinker/#itemlist", "name": "3 Decline Quotes By Steven Pinker", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon. 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