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Stephen Jay Gould Quotes

Stephen Jay Gould quotes

American Scientist September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002

Stephen Jay Gould quotes in french
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Quotes

People talk about human intelligence as the greatest adaptation in the history of the planet. It is an amazing and marvelous thing, but in evolutionary terms, it is as likely to do us in as to help us along. Stephen Jay Gould
We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes—one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximum freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way. Stephen Jay Gould
The more important the subject and the closer it cuts to the bone of our hopes and needs, the more we are likely to err in establishing a framework for analysis. Stephen Jay Gould
Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition. Stephen Jay Gould
We are glorious accidents of an unpredictable process with no drive to complexity, not the expected results of evolutionary principles that yearn to produce a creature capable of understanding the mode of its own necessary construction. Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould quote: "Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information;..."
Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information; it is a creative human activity. Stephen Jay Gould
We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures; because the earth never froze entirely during an ice age; because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook. We may yearn for a ‘higher answer’– but none exists Stephen Jay Gould
The most important tactic in an argument next to being right is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face. Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould quote: "Obsolescence is a fate devoutly to be wished, lest science..."
Obsolescence is a fate devoutly to be wished, lest science stagnate and die. Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould quote: "The proof of evolution lies in those adaptations that arise..."
The proof of evolution lies in those adaptations that arise from improbable foundations. Stephen Jay Gould
The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos. Stephen Jay Gould
Look in the mirror, and don't be tempted to equate transient domination with either intrinsic superiority or prospects for extended survival. Stephen Jay Gould
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops. Stephen Jay Gould
Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism--and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency. Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould quote: "Homo sapiens [are] a tiny twig on an improbable branch of a..."
Homo sapiens [are] a tiny twig on an improbable branch of a contingent limb on a fortunate tree. Stephen Jay Gould

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