Quote

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

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

E. O. Wilson
Age: 95
Born: 1929
Born: June 10
Autobiographer
Biologist
Ecologist
Entomologist
Ethologist
Evolutionary Biologist
Myrmecologist
Naturalist
Novelist
Science Writer
Birmingham
Alabama
E. O. Wilson
Edward Osborne
EO Wilson
E O Wilson
Edward Osborne Wilson
Wilson
Edward Wilson
Junior
Another
Narrative
Form
Sacred
Find
However
Need
Alive
Must
Purpose
Needs
Sense
Ancestral
Way
Keep
Spirits
People
Spirit
Larger

More quotes by E. O. Wilson

Image
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
Image
The toxic mix of religion and tribalism has become so dangerous as to justify taking seriously the alternative view, that humanism based on science is the effective antidote, the light and the way at last placed before us.
E. O. Wilson
Image
I tend to believe that religious dogma is a consequence of evolution.
E. O. Wilson
Image
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
Image
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
Image
You teach me, I forget. You show me, I remember. You involve me, I understand.
E. O. Wilson
Image
Only in the last moment in history has the delusion arisen that people can flourish apart from the rest of the living world.
E. O. Wilson
Image
We've got paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technologies.
E. O. Wilson
Image
In the early stages of creation of both art and science, everything in the mind is a story.
E. O. Wilson
Image
Humanity is part of nature, a species that evolved among other species. The more closely we identify ourselves with the rest of life, the more quickly we will be able to discover the sources of human sensibility and acquire the knowledge on which an enduring ethic, a sense of preferred direction, can be built.
E. O. Wilson
Image
If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth.
E. O. Wilson
Image
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
Image
All three of the Abrahamic religions were born and nurtured in arid, disturbed environments.
E. O. Wilson
Image
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
Image
The world depends on fungi, because they are major players in the cycling of materials and energy around the world.
E. O. Wilson
Image
Because the living environment is what really sustains us.
E. O. Wilson
Image
One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.
E. O. Wilson
Image
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
Image
Far more important throughout the rest of science is the ability to form concepts, during which the researcher conjures images and processes by intuition.
E. O. Wilson
Image
Jungles and grasslands are the logical destinations, and towns and farmland the labyrinths that people have imposed between them sometime in the past. I cherish the green enclaves accidentally left behind.
E. O. Wilson