If insemination were the sole biological function of sex, it could be achieved far more economically in a few seconds of mounting… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The great paradox of determinism and free will, which has held the attention of the wisest of philosophers and psychologists for generations,… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
If we lose half the species, which could happen by the end of the century if we don't do anything, that's going… — 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
Man's destiny is to know, if only because societies with knowledge culturally dominate societies that lack it. Luddites and anti-intellectuals do not… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The vast majority of species that are vanishing, we haven't even discovered yet. How can you possibly put them back in nature… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
We don't know nearly enough about the complexities of Nature. If we think we can eliminate natural ecosystems and substitute prosthetic devices,… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
While ants exist in just the right numbers for the rest of the living world, humans have become too numerous. If we… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
The green prehuman earth is the mystery we were chosen to solve, a guide to the birthplace of our spirit, but it… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
If enough species are extinguished, will the ecosystems collapse, and will the extinction of most other species follow soon afterward? The only… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
So important are insects and other land-dwelling arthropods that if all were to disappear, humanity probably could not last more than a… — 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
Human beings function better if they are deceived by their genes into thinking that there is a disinterested objective morality binding upon… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
If religion and science could be united on the common ground of biological conservation, the problem would be soon solved. If there… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Nature first, then theory. Or, better, Nature and theory closely intertwined while you throw all your intellectual capital at the subject. Love… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
No statistical proofs exist that prayer reduces illness and mortality, except perhaps through a psychogenic enhancement of the immune system; if it… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
If someone could actually prove scientifically that there is such a thing as a supernatural force, it would be one of the… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
If everyone agreed to become vegetarian, leaving little or nothing for livestock, the present 1.4 billion hectares of arable land (3.5 billion… — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
Consider the nematode roundworm, the most abundant of all animals. Four out of five animals on Earth are nematode worms — if… — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
In many environments, take away the ants and there would be partial collapses in many of the land ecosystems. — E. O. Wilson Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
