---
title: "5 Fascinating Quotes By Stephen Jay Gould"
description: "5 Fascinating quotes by Stephen Jay Gould. Plus more from Stephen Jay Gould and more Fascinating sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd4/stephen-jay-gould-885_arcane_we-should-take-comfort-in-two-conjoined_289904.png"
---

> [We should take comfort in two conjoined features of nature: first, that our world is incredibly strange and therefore supremely fascinating, second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-should-take-comfort-in-two-conjoined-features-of-nature-first-that/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd4/stephen-jay-gould-885_arcane_we-should-take-comfort-in-two-conjoined_289904.png)

> [A rare book at once of great importance and wonderful to read… Gould presents a fascinating historical study of scientific racism, tracing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/a-rare-book-at-once-of-great-importance-and-wonderful-to-read-gould/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c50/stephen-jay-gould-885_analysis_a-rare-book-at-once-of-great-importance_408094.jpg)

> [Evolution is one of the two or three most primally fascinating subjects in all the sciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/evolution-is-one-of-the-two-or-three-most-primally-fascinating/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/stephen-jay-gould-885_biology_evolution-is-one-of-the-two-or-three-mos_2186054.png)

> [Contingency is rich and fascinating; it embodies an exquisite tension between the power of individuals to modify history and the intelligible limits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/contingency-is-rich-and-fascinating-it-embodies-an-exquisite-tension/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27b/stephen-jay-gould-885_contingency_contingency-is-rich-and-fascinating-it-e_2428194.jpg)

> [Memory is a fascinating trickster. Words and images have enormous power and can easily displace actual experience over the years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/memory-is-a-fascinating-trickster-words-and-images-have-enormous/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/237/stephen-jay-gould-885_enormous_memory-is-a-fascinating-trickster-words_2916471.png)

## Other authors on Fascinating

## 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/)

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