--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why get excited over this latest episode…" description: "\"Why get excited over this latest episode in the long, sad history of American anti-intellectualism? Let me suggest that, as patriotic Americans, we sho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c6/stephen-jay-gould-885_american-patriotic_why-get-excited-over-this-latest-episode_1043570.jpg" --- # Why get excited over this latest episode in the long, sad… ![“Why get excited over this latest episode in the long, sad history of American anti-intellectualism? Let me suggest that, as patriotic Americans, we should cringe in embarrassment that, at the dawn of a new, technological millennium, a jurisdiction in our heartland has opted to suppress one of the…” quote by Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c6/stephen-jay-gould-885_american-patriotic_why-get-excited-over-this-latest-episode_1043570.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c6/stephen-jay-gould-885_american-patriotic_why-get-excited-over-this-latest-episode_1043570.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c6/stephen-jay-gould-885_american-patriotic_why-get-excited-over-this-latest-episode_1043570.jpg) > “Why get excited over this latest episode in the long, sad history of American anti-intellectualism? Let me suggest that, as patriotic Americans, we should cringe in embarrassment that, at the dawn of a new, technological millennium, a jurisdiction in our heartland has opted to suppress one of the greatest triumphs of human discovery.” [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote criticizes the resurgence of anti‑intellectual sentiment in modern America, urging patriotic shame over suppressing scientific progress. **In simple terms:** America should feel embarrassed about rejecting science. Key Takeaway Recognize and oppose anti‑intellectual trends. Themes science patriotism education culture politics Mood concerned critical hopeful Type political social commentary When to use this quote - school curricula - science funding - public debates - media coverage Key Concepts intellectualism public policy media influence Questions to Reflect On - How does anti‑intellectualism affect democratic society? - What can individuals do to promote scientific literacy? A Different Perspective The quote may overgeneralize and ignore nuanced regional attitudes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American Anti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-anti-1085667/) [American patriotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-patriotic/) [Americans Cringe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-cringe-2453999/) [Anti Intellectualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anti-intellectualism-269226/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Cringe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cringe/) [Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dawn/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Embarrassment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embarrassment/) [Episodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/episodes/) [Excited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excited/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Intellectualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectualism/) [Jurisdiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jurisdiction/) [Let me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-me/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-sad/) [Millennium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millennium/) [Patriotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotic/) [Patriotic Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotic-americans-2454000/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Sad History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad-history-2093252/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Technological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technological/) [Triumph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/triumph/) ## Related quotes > [Something about the fact that an African American had, given the long sad history of our country, now become President - that was exhilarating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/something-about-the-fact-that-an-african-american-had-given-the-long/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [“Hopes of putting their sad history behind them was bound to be bittersweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-nasar/hopes-of-putting-their-sad-history-behind-them-was-bound-to-be/) [Sylvia Nasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-nasar/) > [Election time is when you start to hear about 'average people,' 'working families,' 'patriotic Americans' and such.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anand-giridharadas/election-time-is-when-you-start-to-hear-about-average-people-working/) [Anand Giridharadas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anand-giridharadas/) > [Don't you dare besmirch the name of Congress. They are patriotic Americans trying to dress and feed themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/don-t-you-dare-besmirch-the-name-of-congress-they-are-patriotic/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [As we celebrate Black History Month, let us remember how far we've come as a nation and honor the lives of patriotic Americans who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-donalds/as-we-celebrate-black-history-month-let-us-remember-how-far-we-ve/) [Byron Donalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-donalds/) > [The Quiet American is anti the people who took them into the Vietnam War.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-caine/the-quiet-american-is-anti-the-people-who-took-them-into-the-vietnam/) [Michael Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-caine/) > [“Anti-Americanism is in the process of being consecrated into an ideology. The term 'anti-American' is usually used by the American establishment to discredit and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/anti-americanism-is-in-the-process-of-being-consecrated-into-an/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Like the proverbial elephant in the room, American anti-Europeanism has loomed large for so long that few trouble to notice it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-colley/like-the-proverbial-elephant-in-the-room-american-anti-europeanism/) [Linda Colley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-colley/) > [To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, (or for that matter anti-Indian, or anti-Timbuktuan) is not just racist, it's a failure of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/to-call-someone-anti-american-indeed-to-be-anti-american-or-for-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/to-call-someone-anti-american-indeed-to-be-anti-american-is-not-just/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The story of love is a long sad tale ending in graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-story-of-love-is-a-long-sad-tale-ending-in-graves/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can hope that this long sad story, this progression of priests and ministers and rabbis and ulamas and imams and bonzes and bodhisattvas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/i-can-hope-that-this-long-sad-story-this-progression-of-priests-and/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [And the story of love is a long sad tale ending in graves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-the-story-of-love-is-a-long-sad-tale-ending-in-graves/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I'll go to the south of Sicily in the winter, and paint memories of Arles – I'll buy a piano and Mozart me that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-ll-go-to-the-south-of-sicily-in-the-winter-and-paint-memories-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [In the 1970s, British food was beginning to get good, whereas in France it was just starting its long, sad decline. My most memorable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-faulks/in-the-1970s-british-food-was-beginning-to-get-good-whereas-in-france/) [Sebastian Faulks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-faulks/) ## 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-strongly-reject-any-conceptual-scheme-that-places-our-options-on-a/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/history-employs-evolution-to-structure-biological-events-in-time/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. In fact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/many-folks-take-them-seriously-because-they-just-know-that-evolution/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/charles-darwin-viewed-the-fossil-record-more-as-an-embarrassment-than/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Zoocentrism is the primary fallacy of human sociobiology, for this view of human behavior rests on the argument that if the actions of "lower"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/zoocentrism-is-the-primary-fallacy-of-human-sociobiology-for-this/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The world, unfortunately, rarely matches our hopes and consistently refuses to behave in a reasonable manner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-world-unfortunately-rarely-matches-our-hopes-and-consistently/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The true beauty of nature is her amplitude; she exists neither for nor because of us, and possesses a staying power that all our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-true-beauty-of-nature-is-her-amplitude-she-exists-neither-for-nor/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/with-copious-evidence-ranging-from-plato-s-haughtiness-to-beethoven-s/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [When scientists need to explain difficult points of theory, illustration by hypothetical example - rather than by total abstraction - works well (perhaps indispensably)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/when-scientists-need-to-explain-difficult-points-of-theory/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The truly awesome intellectuals in our history have not merely made discoveries; they have woven variegated, but firm, tapestries of comprehensive coverage. The tapestries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-truly-awesome-intellectuals-in-our-history-have-not-merely-made/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-believe-that-we-can-still-have-a-genre-of-scientific-books-suitable/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Science simply cannot adjudicate the issue of God's possible superintendence of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/science-simply-cannot-adjudicate-the-issue-of-god-s-possible/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/but-if-we-laugh-with-derision-we-will-never-understand-human/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [We debase the richness of both nature and our own minds if we view the great pageant of our intellectual history as a compendium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-debase-the-richness-of-both-nature-and-our-own-minds-if-we-view/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) [Explore all 341 Stephen Jay Gould quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) ## More American patriotic quotes > [Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-mazzini/love-your-country-your-country-is-the-land-where-your-parents-sleep/) [Giuseppe Mazzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-mazzini/) > [The average American is nothing if not patriotic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-croly/the-average-american-is-nothing-if-not-patriotic/) [Herbert Croly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-croly/) > [Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/our-citizenship-in-the-united-states-is-our-national-character-our/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Some Americans need hyphens in their names because only part of them has come over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/some-americans-need-hyphens-in-their-names-because-only-part-of-them/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/when-an-american-says-that-he-loves-his-country-he-means-not-only/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [As a loyal American and I think a patriotic American, no, I don't want Sarah Palin to be president.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/as-a-loyal-american-and-i-think-a-patriotic-american-no-i-don-t-want/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [We live in a new and exceptional age. America is another word for Opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-live-in-a-new-and-exceptional-age-america-is-another-word-for/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [When I die, I desire no better winding sheet than the Stars and Stripes, and no softer pillow than the Constitution of my country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-johnson/when-i-die-i-desire-no-better-winding-sheet-than-the-stars-and/) [Andrew Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-johnson/) > [The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-american-by-nature-is-optimistic-he-is-experimental-an-inventor/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Our great modern Republic. May those who seek the blessings of its institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations they impose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulysses-s-grant/our-great-modern-republic-may-those-who-seek-the-blessings-of-its/) [Ulysses S. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulysses-s-grant/) > [Don't you dare besmirch the name of Congress. They are patriotic Americans trying to dress and feed themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/don-t-you-dare-besmirch-the-name-of-congress-they-are-patriotic/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [Some Americans need hyphens in their names, because only part of them has come over; but when the whole man has come over, heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/some-americans-need-hyphens-in-their-names-because-only-part-of-them-2/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [You can be a patriotic American and be a critic, but then you're not expressing that kind of love that we're used to from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-giuliani/you-can-be-a-patriotic-american-and-be-a-critic-but-then-you-re-not/) [Rudy Giuliani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-giuliani/) > [We shall pay any price, bear any burden, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-shall-pay-any-price-bear-any-burden-to-assure-the-survival-and-the/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth, peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home. . .But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/we-identify-the-flag-with-almost-everything-we-hold-dear-on-earth/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) [Browse all 61 American patriotic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-patriotic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Why get excited over this latest episode in the long, sad history of American anti-intellectualism? 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