---
title: "1 Understood World Quotes By B. F. Skinner"
description: "1 Understood World quotes by B. F. Skinner. Plus more from B. F. Skinner and more Understood World sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01b/b-f-skinner-4812_five_twenty-five-hundred-years-ago-it-might-h_2927410.png"
---

> [Twenty-five hundred years ago it might have been said that man understood himself as well as any other part of the world. Today he is the thing he understands least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/twenty-five-hundred-years-ago-it-might-have-been-said-that-man/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01b/b-f-skinner-4812_five_twenty-five-hundred-years-ago-it-might-h_2927410.png)

## More by B. F. Skinner

> [To require a citizen to sign a loyalty oath is to destroy some of the loyalty he could otherwise claim, since any subsequent loyal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/to-require-a-citizen-to-sign-a-loyalty-oath-is-to-destroy-some-of-the/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [A first principle not formally recognized by scientific methodologists: when you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-first-principle-not-formally-recognized-by-scientific/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [The problem of far greater importance remains to be solved. Rather than build a world in which we shall all live well, we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-problem-of-far-greater-importance-remains-to-be-solved-rather/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [I remember when I was a freshman in college, I was still somewhat bothered by... worried... about religion. I remember going to this professor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-remember-when-i-was-a-freshman-in-college-i-was-still-somewhat/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [Those who have had anything useful to say have said it far too often, and those who have had nothing to say have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/those-who-have-had-anything-useful-to-say-have-said-it-far-too-often/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [I would be opposed to any kind of totalitarian control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-would-be-opposed-to-any-kind-of-totalitarian-control/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might just be the best one can do the situation being what it is. The genuine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-disappointment-is-not-generally-an-oversight-it-might-just-be-the/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [The simplest and most satisfactory view is that thought is simply behavior - verbal or nonverbal, covert or overt. It is not some mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-simplest-and-most-satisfactory-view-is-that-thought-is-simply/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [Behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/behavior-is-shaped-and-maintained-by-its-consequences/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [The alphabet was a great invention, which enabled men to store and to learn with little effort what others had learned the hard way-that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-alphabet-was-a-great-invention-which-enabled-men-to-store-and-to/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [The people who control the condition in which we live have no reason to think beyond more than the next five or 10 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-people-who-control-the-condition-in-which-we-live-have-no-reason/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-am-opposed-to-the-military-use-of-animals-i-am-also-opposed-to-the/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [A person's genetic endowment, a product of the evolution of the species, is said to explain part of the workings of his mind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-person-s-genetic-endowment-a-product-of-the-evolution-of-the/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [Reinforcement is being right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/reinforcement-is-being-right/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

> [If you're old, don't try to change yourself, change your environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/if-you-re-old-don-t-try-to-change-yourself-change-your-environment/)

[B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/)

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