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The neuro-physiological organization which we call instinct functions in a blindly mechanical way, particularly apparent when its function goes wrong.

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
Function
Blindly
Goes
Physiological
Mechanical
Call
Apparent
Wrong
Functions
Way
Particularly
Instinct
Organization

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Few animals display their mood via facial expressions as distinctly as cats.
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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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Man has been driven out of the paradise in which he could trust his instincts.
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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
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In science, new ideas are at first completely neglected, later fiercely attacked, and finally regarded as well known.
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The fidelity of a dog is a precious gift.
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The human soul is very much older than the human mind.
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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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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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I see the creative accomplishments of which highly gifted humans are capable as special cases of the universal creative process, that game played by everyone against everyone else, from which wells up all that has never been before.
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Hatred of humanity and love of animals make a very bad combination.
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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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I believe that both art and the human striving for cognitive comprehension are manifest forms of the grand game in which nothing more is stipulated than the game's rules both art and actively solicited perceptions are but special cases of the recurring creative act to which we owe our existence.
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I believe that present day civilized man suffers from insufficient discharge of his aggressive drive
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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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Barking dogs may occasionally bite, but laughing men hardly ever shoot!
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One of the most dangerously vicious circles menacing the continued existence of all mankind arises through that grim striving for the highest possible position within the ranked order, in other words, the reckless pursuit of power which combines with an insatiable greed of neurotic proportions that the results of acquired power confer.
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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.
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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.
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