---
title: "2 Emergence Quotes By Ursula Goodenough"
description: "2 Emergence quotes by Ursula Goodenough. Plus more from Ursula Goodenough and more Emergence sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png"
---

> [I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own emergence. And so I lift up my head, and I bear my own witness, with affection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self-my-self-is-inherently-sacred/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png)

> [The religious naturalist is provisioned with tales of natural emergence that are, to my mind, far more magical than traditional miracles. Emergence is inherent in everything that is alive, allowing our yearning for supernatural miracles to be subsumed by our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-religious-naturalist-is-provisioned-with-tales-of-natural/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/ursula-goodenough-28376_alive_the-religious-naturalist-is-provisioned_2151115.png)

## Other authors on Emergence

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-derek-rydall-28863.jpg) Derek Rydall 51 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emergence/derek-rydall/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-bryant-mcgill-108.jpg) Bryant McGill 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emergence/bryant-mcgill/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-giroux-41521.jpg) Henry Giroux 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emergence/henry-giroux/)

## More by Ursula Goodenough

> [Early humans, bursting with questions about Nature but with limited understanding of its dynamics, explained things in terms of supernatural persons and person-animals who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/early-humans-bursting-with-questions-about-nature-but-with-limited/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The most reliable joy is to be out of doors, to be a creature among other creatures. I find it very restful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-most-reliable-joy-is-to-be-out-of-doors-to-be-a-creature-among/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Human consensus does not generate reality. Were it able to do so, the Sun would have taken to orbiting the Earth some time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-consensus-does-not-generate-reality-were-it-able-to-do-so-the/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Reverence is the sense that there is something larger than the self, larger even than the human, to which one accords respect and awe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/reverence-is-the-sense-that-there-is-something-larger-than-the-self/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Perhaps we should all settle down and think about what's good in the world and what we want to do here. If we find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/perhaps-we-should-all-settle-down-and-think-about-what-s-good-in-the/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The evolution of the cosmos invokes in me a sense of mystery; the increase in biodiversity invokes the response of humility; and an understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-evolution-of-the-cosmos-invokes-in-me-a-sense-of-mystery-the/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self-my-self-is-inherently-sacred/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The biochemistry and biophysics are the notes required for life; they conspire, collectively, to generate the real unit of life, the organism. The intermediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-biochemistry-and-biophysics-are-the-notes-required-for-life-they/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Human memory, they say, is like a coat closet: The most enduring outcome of a formal education is that it creates rows of coat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-memory-they-say-is-like-a-coat-closet-the-most-enduring-outcome/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [“Life, we can now say, is getting something to happen against the odds, and remembering how to do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/life-we-can-now-say-is-getting-something-to-happen-against-the-odds/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [It is as we respond to the understandings and feelings inherent in . . . art that we acquire much of our truth, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-is-as-we-respond-to-the-understandings-and-feelings-inherent-in/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The religious naturalist is provisioned with tales of natural emergence that are, to my mind, far more magical than traditional miracles. Emergence is inherent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-religious-naturalist-is-provisioned-with-tales-of-natural/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The Big Bang, the formation of sars and planets, the origin and evolution of life on this planet, the advent of human consciousness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-big-bang-the-formation-of-sars-and-planets-the-origin-and/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [It seems far simpler to go ahead and say that the epic is a fantastic myth, that happens to be true of the material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-seems-far-simpler-to-go-ahead-and-say-that-the-epic-is-a-fantastic/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The concept of an independent spiritual realm does not augment, for me, the magic of the mystical dimension, whereas to think of this dimension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-concept-of-an-independent-spiritual-realm-does-not-augment-for-me/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

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