E. O. Wilson Quotes

Powerful E. O. Wilson for Daily Growth

About E. O. Wilson

Edward Osborne Wilson (June 10, 1929 - January 26, 2021), an American biologist, researcher, theorist, and author, was a preeminent figure in the field of myriad-mindedness, sociobiology, and conservation. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Wilson developed an early fascination for insects, which later blossomed into a lifelong career dedicated to understanding the natural world. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 1956, he joined the faculty at Harvard, where he spent most of his academic career, making groundbreaking contributions in entomology, myrmecology (the study of ants), and theoretical biology. Wilson's work on the "theory of island biogeography," co-developed with Robert H. MacArthur, reshaped how scientists view species distribution and diversity. His concept of "biosphere" expanded our understanding of Earth's living skin, while his "consensus theory" bridged the gap between human culture and social insects. However, it was Wilson's work on sociobiology that garnered both acclaim and controversy. In his 1975 book "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis," he proposed that many aspects of social behavior in animals could be understood as adaptations resulting from natural selection. Critics argued that his ideas were ethnocentric and deterministic, but Wilson insisted that his work sought to explain the evolutionary basis of human behavior rather than justify it. Throughout his career, Wilson was a prolific author, producing more than 30 books on various aspects of biology, nature, and environmentalism. His most influential works include "The Ants" (1959), "The Theory of Island Biogeography" (with Robert H. MacArthur, 1967), "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis" (1975), "On Human Nature" (1978), and "The Diversity of Life" (1992), which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Wilson's legacy extends beyond academia, as he was a tireless advocate for conservation. He championed the half-Earth concept, proposing that half the Earth should be reserved in nature reserves and national parks to protect its biodiversity. In his later years, Wilson continued to write and speak on environmental issues, urging humanity to cherish the planet's living tapestry for the sake of our own survival and enrichment.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of consolation; and the greatest source of inspiration and instruction."

E.O. Wilson's quote emphasizes the profound impact that nature has on human beings. It suggests that nature provides a sense of awe, wonder, and excitement due to its inherent beauty and complexity. Furthermore, it offers solace during difficult times, serving as a source of comfort and reassurance in our lives. Lastly, nature stimulates creativity, inspiration, and imparts wisdom through the lessons it presents about life and its processes. Essentially, Wilson is underscoring that an appreciation for nature is essential to living a full and meaningful life.

"We will not save what we do not love."

This quote by E.O. Wilson emphasizes the profound connection between love and preservation. It suggests that in order to protect something, whether it be the environment, a culture, or even another individual, one must first have a deep affection for it. In other words, our motivation to conserve is rooted in our capacity to care, and the intensity of that caring directly impacts our commitment to preservation efforts. This quote underscores the importance of fostering empathy and love towards the world around us as a foundation for sustainable conservation efforts.

"Human beings are part of nature, and it is in our DNA to be concerned about the living world."

This quote emphasizes the inherent connection between humans and nature. It suggests that as a species, we have an innate interest and concern for the natural world because it's deeply rooted within us at a biological level. Wilson is reminding us that our humanity is intertwined with the rest of life on Earth, and our well-being is dependent on the health of the ecosystems around us. In other words, caring for nature should be a natural part of being human.

"To reawaken one's sense of wonder is the mark of a truly educated mind."

This quote by E.O. Wilson emphasizes the importance of maintaining curiosity and wonder in our learning process. To be 'truly educated', according to Wilson, means not only acquiring knowledge but also preserving the childlike amazement that drives us to seek understanding and explore the world around us. In essence, it's about fostering a lifelong love for learning.

"The empty spaces on maps fascinate me more than the continents."

This quote emphasizes the intrigue and fascination that renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson feels towards uncharted, unexplored territories or ideas, as opposed to well-known and established entities such as continents on maps. The "empty spaces" symbolize areas of unknown knowledge, waiting to be discovered, understood, and filled with new insights. It's a call to explore the mysteries of the world, both physically and intellectually.

The education of women is the best way to save the environment.

- E. O. Wilson

Education, Environment, Save, Best Way

I'm very much a Christian in ideals and ethics, especially in terms of belief in fairness, a deep set obligation to others, and the virtues of charity, tolerance and generosity that we associate with traditional Christian teaching.

- E. O. Wilson

Deep, Fairness, Very, Generosity

But once the ants and termites jumped the high barrier that prevents the vast variety of evolving animal groups from becoming fully social, they dominated the world.

- E. O. Wilson

Ants, Social, Becoming, Animal

In 2010, my two Harvard mathematician colleagues and I dismantled kin-selection theory, which was the reigning theory of the origin of altruism at the time.

- E. O. Wilson

Origin, Which, Reigning, Mathematician

Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.

- E. O. Wilson

Nature, Aesthetic, Cognitive, Intellectual

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 endeavor alone, whether successful or not, provided the effort is honorable and failure memorable.

- E. O. Wilson

Another, Provided, Humanism, Memorable

Ants have the most complicated social organization on earth next to humans.

- E. O. Wilson

Next, Ants, Most, Humans

Every major religion today is a winner in the Darwinian struggle waged among cultures, and none ever flourished by tolerating its rivals.

- E. O. Wilson

Waged, None, Tolerating, Rivals

An individual ant, even though it has a brain about a millionth of a size of a human being's, can learn a maze; the kind we use is a simple rat maze in a laboratory. They can learn it about one-half as fast as a rat.

- E. O. Wilson

Rat, Individual, Though, Laboratory

I had in mind a message, although I hope it doesn't intrude too badly, persuading Americans, and especially Southerners, of the critical importance of land and our vanishing natural environment and wildlife.

- E. O. Wilson

Mind, Badly, Persuading, Southerners

The essence of humanity's spiritual dilemma is that we evolved genetically to accept one truth and discovered another. Is there a way to erase the dilemma, to resolve the contradictions between the transcendentalist and the empiricist world views?

- E. O. Wilson

Resolve, Essence, Discovered, Erase

What's been gratifying is to live long enough to see molecular biology and evolutionary biology growing toward each other and uniting in research efforts.

- E. O. Wilson

Biology, Other, Been, Molecular

A very Faustian choice is upon us: whether to accept our corrosive and risky behavior as the unavoidable price of population and economic growth, or to take stock of ourselves and search for a new environmental ethic.

- E. O. Wilson

Environmental, New, Very, Ethic

For me, the peculiar qualities of faith are a logical outcome of this level of biological organization.

- E. O. Wilson

Me, Organization, Level, Outcome

I was a senior in high school when I decided I wanted to work on ants as a career. I just fell in love with them, and have never regretted it.

- E. O. Wilson

Love, Career, Ants, Regretted

Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.

- E. O. Wilson

Die, Will, Die Hard, Slowly

The historical circumstance of interest is that the tropical rain forests have persisted over broad parts of the continents since their origins as stronghold of the flowering plants 150 million years ago.

- E. O. Wilson

Rain, Over, Historical, Forests

We don't need to clear the 4 to 6 percent of the Earth's surface remaining in tropical rain forests, with most of the animal and plant species living there.

- E. O. Wilson

Rain, Living, Surface, Forests

Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled my energies and drove me in new directions.

- E. O. Wilson

New, Brilliant, Been, Energies

When you get into the whole field of exploring, probably 90 percent of the kinds of organisms, plants, animals and especially microorganisms and tiny invertebrate animals are unknown. Then you realize that we live on a relatively unexplored plan.

- E. O. Wilson

Percent, Whole, Kinds, Relatively

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

- E. O. Wilson

World, Ant, Tumult, Noisy

We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.

- E. O. Wilson

Run, Starving, About, Critically

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

- E. O. Wilson

Rest, Likely, Viruses, Exceed

Perhaps the time has come to cease calling it the 'environmentalist' view, as though it were a lobbying effort outside the mainstream of human activity, and to start calling it the real-world view.

- E. O. Wilson

Activity, Though, Lobbying, Real-World

Once I feel I'm right, I have enjoyed provoking.

- E. O. Wilson

Right, Feel, Once, Provoking

I've found that good dialogue tells you not only what people are saying or how they're communicating but it tells you a great deal - by dialect and tone, content and circumstance - about the quality of the character.

- E. O. Wilson

Deal, Tone, Dialect, Great Deal

One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.

- E. O. Wilson

Grow, Period, Ardent, Naturalist

True character arises from a deeper well than religion.

- E. O. Wilson

Character, True, Than, Arises

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

- E. O. Wilson

Two, Them, Having, Odds

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

- E. O. Wilson

Learn, Biodiversity, Means, Priceless

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

- E. O. Wilson

World, Input, Mapping, Map

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 or any religion that believes in a supernatural supervalance over humanity.

- E. O. Wilson

Over, Southern, Supernatural, Biological

'The Creation' presents an argument for saving biological diversity on Earth. Most of the book is for as broad an audience as possible.

- E. O. Wilson

Argument, Most, Saving, Biological

Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.

- E. O. Wilson

Selfishness, Individual, Versus

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

- E. O. Wilson

Always, Competing, Within, Contests

What we need is an electronic encyclopedia of life, with one page for each species. On each page is given everything known about that species.

- E. O. Wilson

Need, Given, Known, Encyclopedia

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

- E. O. Wilson

Ants, Away, Take, Partial

So in my freshman year at the University of Alabama, learning the literature on evolution, what was known about it biologically, just gradually transformed me by taking me out of literalism and increasingly into a more secular, scientific view of the world.

- E. O. Wilson

Year, Increasingly, Transformed

Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.

- E. O. Wilson

Environmental, Meal, Burning, Economic

I grew up as a Southern Baptist with strict adherence to the Bible, which I read as a youngster.

- E. O. Wilson

Bible, Southern, Which, Strict

People respect nonfiction but they read novels.

- E. O. Wilson

People, Read, Nonfiction, Novels

Theology made no provision for evolution. The biblical authors had missed the most important revelation of all! Could it be that they were not really privy to the thoughts of God?

- E. O. Wilson

Thoughts, Missed, Made, Provision

Of course, there is no reconciliation between the theory of evolution by natural selection and the traditional religious view of the origin of the human mind.

- E. O. Wilson

Mind, Natural, Religious, Reconciliation

The two major challenges for the 21st century are to improve the economic situation of the majority and save as much of the planet as we can.

- E. O. Wilson

Challenges, Planet, Save, Economic

There doesn't seem to be any other way of creating the next green revolution without GMOs.

- E. O. Wilson

Green, Next, Other, Any Other Way

I see no way out of the problems that organized religion and tribalism create other than humans just becoming more honest and fully aware of themselves.

- E. O. Wilson

More, Other, Becoming, Fully

I thought perhaps it should be recognized that religious people, including fundamentalists, are quite intelligent, many of them are highly educated, and they should be treated with complete respect.

- E. O. Wilson

Treated, Religious People, Highly

Secular humanists can sit around and talk about their love of humanity, but it doesn't stack up against a two-millennium-old funeral high mass.

- E. O. Wilson

Love, Against, Stack, Sit

Ants are the leading removers of dead creatures on the land. And the rest of life is substantially dependent upon them.

- E. O. Wilson

Rest, Ants, Creatures, Dependent

Well, let me tell you, ants are the dominant insects. They make up as much as a quarter of the biomass of all insects in the world. They are the principal predators. They're the cemetery workers.

- E. O. Wilson

Ants, Dominant, Predators, Cemetery

Ants make up two-thirds of the biomass of all the insects. There are millions of species of organisms and we know almost nothing about them.

- E. O. Wilson

Ants, Two-Thirds, Almost, Organisms

People need a sacred narrative. They must have a sense of larger purpose, in one form or another, however intellectualized. They will find a way to keep ancestral spirits alive.

- E. O. Wilson

Alive, Larger, However, Ancestral

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

- E. O. Wilson

Love, World, Most, Natural World

We ought to recognize that religious strife is not the consequence of differences among people. It's about conflicts between creation stories.

- E. O. Wilson

Religious, Stories, Strife, Ought

The human mind evolved to believe in the gods. It did not evolve to believe in biology.

- E. O. Wilson

Mind, Biology, Evolve, Human Mind

Companies that are willing to share, to withhold in order to further the growth of the company, willing to try to get a better atmosphere through a demonstration of democratic principles, fairness and cooperation, a better product, those will win in the end.

- E. O. Wilson

Through, Atmosphere, Willing, In The End

Blind faith, no matter how passionately expressed, will not suffice. Science for its part will test relentlessly every assumption about the human condition.

- E. O. Wilson

Blind, Test, Human Condition, Expressed

You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path. Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure. Persist! The world needs all you can give.

- E. O. Wilson

Failure, Prepare, However, Honorably

The human juggernaut is permanently eroding Earth's ancient biosphere.

- E. O. Wilson

Earth, Ancient, Human, Permanently

It's obvious that the key problem facing humanity in the coming century is how to bring a better quality of life - for 8 billion or more people - without wrecking the environment entirely in the attempt.

- E. O. Wilson

Bring, Attempt, Facing, Key

In addition I wanted to write a Southern novel, because I'm a Southerner.

- E. O. Wilson

Southern, Wanted, Southerner, Novel

It's the technique, I think, of writing a novel that is difficult for a nonfiction writer.

- E. O. Wilson

Writing, Think, I Think, Novel

I had reached a point in my career in which I was ready to try something new in my writing, and the idea of a novel has always been in the back of my mind.

- E. O. Wilson

New, Always, Which, Novel

If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.

- E. O. Wilson

Environmental, Back, Existed, Insects

If we were to wipe out insects alone on this planet, the rest of life and humanity with it would mostly disappear from the land. Within a few months.

- E. O. Wilson

Rest, Mostly, Months, Insects

Ants are the dominant insects of the world, and they've had a great impact on habitats almost all over the land surface of the world for more than 50-million years.

- E. O. Wilson

Ants, Over, Habitats, Insects

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

- E. O. Wilson

World, Depends, Major, Energy

But I feel music has a very important role in ritual activity, and that being able to join in musical activity, along with dancing, could have been necessary at a very early stage of human culture.

- E. O. Wilson

Dancing, Been, Very, Early

To the extent that philosophical positions both confuse us and close doors to further inquiry, they are likely to be wrong.

- E. O. Wilson

Extent, Likely, Positions, Philosophical

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

- E. O. Wilson

Living, Cost, Standard, Horrendous

Real biologists who actually do the research will tell you that they almost never find a phenomenon, no matter how odd or irrelevant it looks when they first see it, that doesn't prove to serve a function. The outcome itself may be due to small accidents of evolution.

- E. O. Wilson

Small, Prove, Irrelevant, Odd

Religious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength.

- E. O. Wilson

Competing, Religious, Essential

Because the living environment is what really sustains us.

- E. O. Wilson

Environment, Living, Because, Sustains

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

- E. O. Wilson

World, Part, Studied, Emerge

Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science.

- E. O. Wilson

Science, Mind, Corrupt, Political Ideology

In some ways, I had a traditional 'old South' upbringing, meaning that I spent some time in a military school, and acquired an inoculum of the military ethic that is still with me today: honor, duty, loyalty.

- E. O. Wilson

Some, Still, South, Ethic

All three of the Abrahamic religions were born and nurtured in arid, disturbed environments.

- E. O. Wilson

Arid, Environments, Were, Disturbed

Jehovah had nothing to say to Moses and the others about the care of the planet. He had plenty to say about tribal loyalty and conquest.

- E. O. Wilson

Nothing, Planet, Jehovah, Moses

It's always been a great survival value for people to believe they belong to a superior tribe. That's just in human relationships.

- E. O. Wilson

Always, Belong, Been, Tribe

Every kid has a bug period... I never grew out of mine.

- E. O. Wilson

Never, Mine, Period, Bug

When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.

- E. O. Wilson

Nature, Tree, Bird, Ant

The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.

- E. O. Wilson

Folly, Habitats, Correct, Descendants

I tend to believe that religious dogma is a consequence of evolution.

- E. O. Wilson

Religious, Tend, Consequence, Evolution

The work on ants has profoundly affected the way I think about humans.

- E. O. Wilson

Think, Ants, I Think, Humans

It's like having astronomy without knowing where the stars are.

- E. O. Wilson

Knowing, Like, Having, Astronomy

By any reasonable measure of achievement, the faith of the Enlightenment thinkers in science was justified.

- E. O. Wilson

Achievement, Measure, Thinkers

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 biosphere.

- E. O. Wilson

Always, Been, Mine, Finding

Religious belief itself is an adaptation that has evolved because we're hard-wired to form tribalistic religions.

- E. O. Wilson

Religious, Itself, Form, Religions

If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth.

- E. O. Wilson

Truth, Desire, Same, Taught

Sometimes a concept is baffling not because it is profound but because it is wrong.

- E. O. Wilson

Sometimes, Concept, Baffling, Profound

We have decommissioned natural selection and must now look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.

- E. O. Wilson

Deep, Natural, Within, Decide

Even as empiricism is winning the mind, transcendentalism continues to win the heart.

- E. O. Wilson

Winning, Mind, Even, Win

In my heart, I'm an Alabaman who went up north to work.

- E. O. Wilson

Work, Heart, Up, North

There is no better high than discovery.

- E. O. Wilson

Discovery, Better, Than, High

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