Altered Quote by 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 can tell. If intelligent people invested intense energy in issues that now seem foolish to us, then the failure lies in our understanding of their world, not in their distorted perceptions.”

Stephen Jay Gould

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.8 out of 5 (6 ratings)

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…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. In fact,…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory ...

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

Zoocentrism is the primary fallacy of human sociobiology, for this view of human behavior rests on the argument that if the actions of "lower"…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

The world, unfortunately, rarely matches our hopes and consistently refuses to behave in a reasonable manner.

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

The true beauty of nature is her amplitude; she exists neither for nor because of us, and possesses a staying power that all our…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

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…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

When scientists need to explain difficult points of theory, illustration by hypothetical example - rather than by total abstraction - works well (perhaps indispensably)…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

The truly awesome intellectuals in our history have not merely made discoveries; they have woven variegated, but firm, tapestries of comprehensive coverage. The tapestries…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts…

Stephen Jay Gould

Image

Explore all 341 Stephen Jay Gould quotes

More Altered quotes

Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…

Jean le Rond d'Alembert

Image

Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…

Warren Farrell

Image

A new constitution should be more amendable. A needlessly confusing system of courts should be altered to produce an arrangement that would be simple,…

Charles Edison

Image

Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.

Ovid

Image

The patterns of activity of neurons in sensory areas can be altered by patterns of attention. Experience coupled with attention leads to physical changes…

Michael Merzenich

Image

[New York] is a city largely based on great skyscrapers, and they will always be the essence of New York. That won't change, just…

Donald Trump

Image

Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with…

Richard A. Falk

Image

Thousands of years of ideological, philosophical and practical decisions were made. They altered the surface of the earth, the coordinates of our souls. For…

Arundhati Roy

Image

The ethic behind songs of conscience doesn't change, even though the issues are altered from generation to generation.

Peter Yarrow

Image

Historic changes and challenges. Breakthroughs in human knowledge and opportunity. And yet, for vast numbers across the globe, the daily realities have not altered.

Anonymous