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World Quotes by E. O. Wilson

43 World quotes by E. O. Wilson

All World quotes E. O. Wilson’s page

E. O. Wilson talks about his dream of exploring and classifying every living species on Earth. He stresses that the biosphere, the thin layer of life, gives us water, food, medicines, and countless other gifts. He urges young scientists to act now, warning that losing half the species will change the world dramatically.

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The world depends on fungi, because they are major players in the cycling of materials and energy around the world.

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The ant world is a tumult, a noisy world of pheromones being passed back and forth.

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Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds... is not productive.

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[Bacteria are the] dark matter of the biological world [with 4 million mostly unknown species in a ton of soil].

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Only in the last moment in history has the delusion arisen that people can flourish apart from the rest of the living…

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I doubt that most people with short-term thinking love the natural world enough to save it.

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Ideas emerge when a part of the real or imagined world is studied for its own sake.

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Our brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it's a map with constant immediate sensory input.

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From the freedom to explore comes the joy of learning. From knowledge acquired by personal initiative arises the desire for more knowledge.…

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We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together…

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But once the ants and termites jumped the high barrier that prevents the vast variety of evolving animal groups from becoming fully…

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If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years…

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I turned to the teeming small creatures that can be held between the thumb and forefinger: the little things that compose the…

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No one knows the diversity in the world, not even to the nearest order of magnitude. ... We don't know for sure…

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If we lose half the species, which could happen by the end of the century if we don't do anything, that's going…

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You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best,…

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Human existence may be simpler than we thought. There is no predestination, no unfathomed mystery of life. Demons and gods do not…

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The students of biodiversity, the ones we most need in science today, have an enormous task ahead of molecular biology and the…

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Science is not marginal. Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of…

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Science offers the boldest metaphysics of the age. It is a thoroughly human construct, driven by the faith that if we dream,…

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If you go from the USA - which, relative to the rest of the world, is in pretty good shape in terms…

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The most dangerous of devotions, in my opinion, is the one endemic to Christianity: I was not born to be of this…

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We don't even know what species are out there, for the most part, particularly when you get down to the microbes and…

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The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is…

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Without the instruments and accumulated knowledge of the natural sciences... humans are trapped in a cognitive prison. They are like intelligent fish…

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While ants exist in just the right numbers for the rest of the living world, humans have become too numerous. If we…

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Every ecosystem, even a small one, is sustainable because it has certain ensembles and conditions and influences that are unique to it.…

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Not all ants use violence to dominate their world, some use more subtle methods.

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Go as far as you can, [young scientists]. The world needs you badly.

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No barrier stands between the material world of science and the sensibilities of the hunter and the poet,

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Well, let me tell you, ants are the dominant insects. They make up as much as a quarter of the biomass of…

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Biological diversity is the key to the maintenance of the world as we know it... Eliminate one species, and another increases to…

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[The natural world cleans water, pollinates plants and provides pharmaceuticals, among many other gifts.] Thirty trillion dollars worth of services, scot-free to…

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No statistical proofs exist that prayer reduces illness and mortality, except perhaps through a psychogenic enhancement of the immune system; if it…

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So in my freshman year at the University of Alabama, learning the literature on evolution, what was known about it biologically, just…

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The search for knowledge is in our genes. It was put there by our distant ancestors who spread across the world, and…

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The global conservation organisations are doing everything they can on modest budgets. They essentially promote setting aside reserves and parks around the…

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America in particular imposes an horrendous burden on the world. We have this wonderful standard of living but it comes at enormous…

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The essence of humanity's spiritual dilemma is that we evolved genetically to accept one truth and discovered another. Is there a way…

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Ants are the dominant insects of the world, and they've had a great impact on habitats almost all over the land surface…

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More by E. O. Wilson

Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled…

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…

Competing is intense among humans, and within a group, selfish individuals always win. But in contests between groups, groups of altruists always beat groups…

When all else fails, men turn to reason.

The commitment must be much deeper - to let no species knowingly die; to take all reasonable action to protect every species and race…

Science is not marginal. Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of our species'…

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…

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…

We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.

In many environments, take away the ants and there would be partial collapses in many of the land ecosystems.

If those committed to the quest fail, they will be forgiven. When lost, they will find another way. The moral imperative of humanism is…

The extinctions ongoing worldwide promise to be at least as great as the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the age of…

Most people are surprised when they hear my somber figures: we know of 2 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms, and we can…

Because the living environment is what really sustains us.

The variety of genes on the planet in viruses exceeds, or is likely to exceed, that in all of the rest of life combined.