---
title: "4 Punctuated Equilibrium Quotes by 3 authors"
description: "Browse 4 Punctuated Equilibrium quotes by 3 authors. Discover the best Punctuated Equilibrium sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/elizabeth-bear-20352_attention_the-end-of-the-world-was-supposed-to-be_1327861.png"
---

> [The end of the world was supposed to be gradual. There was supposed to be warning. A long, slow slide. What we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/the-end-of-the-world-was-supposed-to-be-gradual-there-was-supposed-to/)

[Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/251/elizabeth-bear-20352_attention_the-end-of-the-world-was-supposed-to-be_1327861.png)

> [The theory of punctuated equilibrium, proposed by Niles Eldredge and myself, is not, as so often misunderstood, a radical claim for truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-theory-of-punctuated-equilibrium-proposed-by-niles-eldredge-and/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/stephen-jay-gould-885_bedding_the-theory-of-punctuated-equilibrium-pro_2320500.jpg)

> [The literal record was not a hopelessly and imperfect fraction of truly insensible gradation within large populations but an accurate reflection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-literal-record-was-not-a-hopelessly-and-imperfect-fraction-of/)

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

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/stephen-jay-gould-885_accurate_the-literal-record-was-not-a-hopelessly_2673732.png)

> [Dinosaur: I plan to use punctuated equilibrium to turn this zit into a third eye. Catbert: That's not a natural advantage. You'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/dinosaur-i-plan-to-use-punctuated-equilibrium-to-turn-this-zit-into-a/)

[Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/scott-adams-666_advantage_dinosaur-i-plan-to-use-punctuated-equili_3030815.jpg)

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                        "text": "The end of the world was supposed to be gradual. There was supposed to be warning. A long, slow slide. What we got was punctuated equilibrium: a stately wobbling, then a sudden tipping point. There was plenty of warning, I suppose. We just weren’t paying attention.",
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                        "text": "The theory of punctuated equilibrium, proposed by Niles Eldredge and myself, is not, as so often misunderstood, a radical claim for truly sudden change, but a recognition that ordinary processes of speciation, properly conceived as glacially slow by the standard of our own life-span, do not resolve into geological time as long sequences of insensibly graded intermediates (the traditional, or gradualistic, view), but as geologically \"sudden\" origins at single bedding planes.",
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                        "text": "The literal record was not a hopelessly and imperfect fraction of truly insensible gradation within large populations but an accurate reflection of the actual process identified by evolutionists as the chief motor of biological change. The theory of punctuated equilibrium was, in its initial formulation, little more than this insight adumbrated.",
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                        "text": "Dinosaur: I plan to use punctuated equilibrium to turn this zit into a third eye. Catbert: That's not a natural advantage. You'd better stay away from the fitter dinosaurs.",
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