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Most of the vices and mortal sins condemned today correspond to inclinations that were purely adaptive or at least harmless in primitive man

Konrad Lorenz

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Konrad Lorenz
Age: 85 †
Born: 1903
Born: November 7
Died: 1989
Died: February 27
Biologist
Ethologist
Naturalist
Philosopher
Physician
Psychologist
University Teacher
Writer
Zoologist
Vienna
Austria
Konrad Z. Lorenz
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz
Primitive
Adaptive
Sins
Inclinations
Mortals
Harmless
Vices
Demise
Sin
Condemned
Least
Inclination
Today
Purely
Men
Mortal
Correspond

More quotes by Konrad Lorenz

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The human soul is very much older than the human mind.
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All the advantages that man has gained from his ever-deepening understanding of the natural world that surrounds him, his technological, chemical and medical progress, all of which should seem to alleviate human suffering... tends instead to favor humanity's destruction.
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The instinctive need to be the member of a closely knit group fighting for common ideals may grow so strong that it becomes inessential what these ideals are.
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Man has been driven out of the paradise in which he could trust his instincts.
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...he who has seen the intimate beauty of nature cannot tear himself away from it again. He must become either a poet or a naturalist and, if his eyes are keen and his powers of observation sharp enough, he may well become both.
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Just thinking that my dog loves me more than I love him, I feel shame.
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Scientific truth is universal, because it is only discovered by the human brain and not made by it, as art is.
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Every mutation through a new combination of genetic factors that provides the organism with a new opportunity for coming to terms with the conditions of its environment signifies no more and no less than that new information about this environment has got into that organic system. Adaptation is essentially a cognitive process.
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All too willingly man sees himself as the centre of the universe, as something not belonging to the rest of nature but standing apart as a different and higher being. Many people cling to this error and remain deaf to the wisest command ever given by a sage, the famous Know thyself inscribed in the temple of Delphi.
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The scientist knows very well that he is approaching ultimate truth only in an asymptotic curve and is barred from ever reaching it but at the same time he is proudly aware of being indeed able to determine whether a statement is a nearer or a less near approach to the truth.
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I believe that present day civilized man suffers from insufficient discharge of his aggressive drive
Konrad Lorenz
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The cat is a wild animal that inhabits the homes of humans.
Konrad Lorenz
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Philosophers are people who know less and less about more and more, until they know nothing about everything. Scientists are people who know more and more about less and less, until they know everything about nothing.
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Historians will have to face the fact that natural selection determined the evolution of cultures in the same manner as it did that of species.
Konrad Lorenz
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In science, new ideas are at first completely neglected, later fiercely attacked, and finally regarded as well known.
Konrad Lorenz
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We do not take humor seriously enough.
Konrad Lorenz
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I would rather have a Scot come from Scotland togovern the people of this kingdom well and justly, than that you should govern them ill in the sight of all the world.
Konrad Lorenz
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It ought to be realized by all dog owners that obesity shortens a dog's life quite considerably, a life which is much too short anyhow.
Konrad Lorenz
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A man sufficiently gifted with humor is in small danger of succumbing to flattering delusions about himself, because he cannot help perceiving what a pompous ass he would become if he did.
Konrad Lorenz
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Man appears to be the missing link between anthropoid apes and human beings.
Konrad Lorenz