Stephen Jay Gould Quotes

When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown.

Stephen Jay Gould

• Judgment
• Hopes
• Manipulation

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Quotes to Explore

• We are not angels, we are merely sophisticated apes. Yet we feel like angels trapped inside the bodies of beasts, craving transcendence and all the time trying to spread our wings and fly off, and it's really a very odd predicament to be in, if you think about it.

  

  Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
  • Time
  • Trying
  • Fly

• I would love a family. I'm at the age where the wish for a child gets stronger. But who knows.

  

  Cameron Diaz
  • Family
  • Wish
  • Child

• That nature does not care, one way or the other, is the true abyss. That only man cares, in his finitude facing nothing but death, alone with his contingency and the objective meaninglessness of his projecting meanings, is a truly unprecedented situation.

  

  Hans Jonas
  • True
  • Nature
  • Death

• We need to send Barack Obama back to Chicago. I'd like to send him back to Kenya, back to Indonesia. We have to unmask this man. This is a man that seeks to destroy all concept of God. And I will tell you what, this is classical Marxist philosophy.

  

  Rafael Cruz
  • God
  • Man
  • Philosophy

• Political and social change is always a stagger-step process. One step forward, two steps back. They want you to give up.

  

  Hal Sparks
  • Up
  • Political
  • Change

• To inform, and, therefore to reconnoitre, this is the first and constant duty of the advanced guard.

  

  Ferdinand Foch

• If poetry is like an orgasm, an academic can be likened to someone who studies the passion-stains on the bedsheets.

  

  Irving Layton
  • Passion
  • Poetry

• You would think that pot had some kind of power; I mean come on, it’s a plant, not a reason for living. Controlled by a plant, how hilarious. A plant! A fucking plant!

  

  Henry Rollins Black Flag
  • Power
  • Plant
  • Hilarious

• Paranormal fiction offers authors - and readers - the chance to answer the question, 'What if?' All the different ways that question can be answered make for extremely entertaining reading.

  

  Jeaniene Frost
  • Different
  • Reading
  • Question

• 'No Burden' is not necessarily ferocious.

  

  Lucy Dacus

• Much like dystopian and post-apocalyptic books are a way to explore the worst-case scenarios lurking around the corner, fantasy can serve as a wonderful tool for showing kids that they have an inherent power in them to create change, both in themselves and in their community.

  

  Alexandra Bracken
  • Kids
  • Power
  • Community

• Congress suffers a great deal of criticism for its partisan acrimony. But while we may disagree politically, and air our opposition in this chamber, it is the conversation behind the scenes that cements and defines our relationships.

  

  Kay Bailey Hutchison
  • Great
  • May
  • Air

• I have nothing but respect for the Lakers. So many of their legends shaped who I am as a person and player.

  

  Bill Walton
  • Respect
  • Player

• The reality is that people know my character, and they know my service.

  

  Joe Garcia
  • People
  • Character
  • Reality

• A lot of my characters are underdogs or sad or lonely, but I had a comfortable, golden sort of childhood.

  

  Anthony Browne
  • Childhood
  • Sad
  • Lonely

• Animation is a fascinating area from an acting point of view because it's not really like anything else because you are only providing a portion of the performance. That's very inspiring and it forces you to do things in a different way - to tell stories through your voice.

  

  David Tennant
  • Different

• I don't think that evolution is supremely important because it is my specialty; it is my specialty because I think it is supremely important.

  

  George Gaylord Simpson
  • Important

• Part of my plan was not only to introduce all useful animals that I possibly could into this part of Australia, but also the most valuable plants of every description.

  

  George Grey

• Half of the people in the world are below average.

  

  Napoleon Bonaparte
  • People
  • Average

• The so-called paradoxes of an author, to which a reader takes exception, often exist not in the author's book at all, but rather in the reader's head.

  

  Friedrich Nietzsche
  • Book
  • Author
  • Paradoxes

• I believe that a party wishing equality for India does exist in Britain. But it is an insignificant minority, and while I honour and like their opinion I cannot be enthused over it, for I know that those who shape policy and dominate are otherwise inclined. For me, therefore, it is only the Secretary of State who counts.

  

  Mahatma Gandhi
  • Opinion
  • I Believe
  • Policy

• When I arrived at Barcelona, I was following a dream, but I now realize sometimes it's better to be content with what you have rather than follow a dream which nearly kills you.

  

  Zlatan Ibrahimovic
  • Dream
  • Sometimes
  • Better

• I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'

  

  Saul Bellow
  • Heart
  • Hell
  • Judgment

• When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown.

  

  Stephen Jay Gould
  • Judgment
  • Hopes
  • Manipulation