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56 Interesting Quotes By Stephen Jay Gould

Famous As: Paleontologist and Evolutionary Biologist Known for His 'Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium' & Book ‘The Mismeasure of Man’
Born On: September 10, 1941
Died On: May 20, 2002
Born In: Bayside, New York, United States
Died At Age: 60

One of the renowned names in the field of paleontology, evolutionary biology and history of science, Stephen Jay Gould, was noted for his theory on Pleistocene and Recent History of the Subgenus Poecilozonites in Bermuda. His other works included his thesis of Punctuated equilibrium and non-overlapping magisterial. Gould’s essays on evolution titled ‘This View of Life’ were published in the Natural History magazine. These essays were later released as best-selling books titled ‘Ever Since Darwin’, ‘The Panda's Thumb’, ‘Hen's Teeth’, ‘Horse's Toes’ and ‘The Flamingo's Smile’. His endless list of accolades includes the National Book Award, Paleontological Society Medal, and Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Apart from his work in science, Gould was also an ardent fan of baseball and sabermetrics. His essays on baseball statistics were posthumously released as ‘Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville’. Here are some of the most interesting quotes from this legend of evolutionary biology.

Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty.

Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty.

Stephen Jay Gould
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.

I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.

Stephen Jay Gould
The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.

Stephen Jay Gould
The most important tactic in an argument next to being right is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.

The most important tactic in an argument next to being right is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.

Stephen Jay Gould
Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism--and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency.

Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism--and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency.

Stephen Jay Gould
Life is short, and potential studies infinite. We have a much better chance of accomplishing something significant when we follow our passionate interests and work in areas of deepest personal meaning.

Life is short, and potential studies infinite. We have a much better chance of accomplishing something significant when we follow our passionate interests and work in areas of deepest personal meaning.

Stephen Jay Gould
Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information; it is a creative human activity.

Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information; it is a creative human activity.

Stephen Jay Gould
Homo sapiens [are] a tiny twig on an improbable branch of a contingent limb on a fortunate tree.

Homo sapiens [are] a tiny twig on an improbable branch of a contingent limb on a fortunate tree.

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

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

Stephen Jay Gould
People talk about human intelligence as the greatest adaptation in the history of the planet. It is an amazing and marvelous thing, but in evolutionary terms, it is as likely to do us in as to help us along.

People talk about human intelligence as the greatest adaptation in the history of the planet. It is an amazing and marvelous thing, but in evolutionary terms, it is as likely to do us in as to help us along.

Stephen Jay Gould
Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition.

Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition.

Stephen Jay Gould
Obsolescence is a fate devoutly to be wished, lest science stagnate and die.

Obsolescence is a fate devoutly to be wished, lest science stagnate and die.

Stephen Jay Gould
Current utility and historical origin are different subjects.

Current utility and historical origin are different subjects.

Stephen Jay Gould
I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and seeatshops

I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and seeatshops

Stephen Jay Gould
Nothing matches the holiness and fascination of accurate and intricate detail.

Nothing matches the holiness and fascination of accurate and intricate detail.

Stephen Jay Gould
The dogmatist within is always worse than the enemy without.

The dogmatist within is always worse than the enemy without.

Stephen Jay Gould
Geology gave us the immensity of time and taught us how little of it our own species has occupied.

Geology gave us the immensity of time and taught us how little of it our own species has occupied.

Stephen Jay Gould
So much of science proceeds by telling stories.

So much of science proceeds by telling stories.

Stephen Jay Gould
If we use the past only to creature heroes for present purposes, we will never understand the richness of human thought or the plurality of ways of knowing.

If we use the past only to creature heroes for present purposes, we will never understand the richness of human thought or the plurality of ways of knowing.

Stephen Jay Gould
The causes of life's history [cannot] resolve the riddle of life's meaning.

The causes of life's history [cannot] resolve the riddle of life's meaning.

Stephen Jay Gould
Alter any event, ever so slightly and without apparent importance at the time, and evolution cascades into radically different channel.

Alter any event, ever so slightly and without apparent importance at the time, and evolution cascades into radically different channel.

Stephen Jay Gould
With copious evidence ranging from Plato's haughtiness to Beethoven's tirades, we may conclude that the most brilliant people of history tend to be a prickly lot.

With copious evidence ranging from Plato's haughtiness to Beethoven's tirades, we may conclude that the most brilliant people of history tend to be a prickly lot.

Stephen Jay Gould
Knowledge and wonder are the dyad of our worthy lives as intellectual beings.

Knowledge and wonder are the dyad of our worthy lives as intellectual beings.

Stephen Jay Gould
Scientific questions cannot be decided by majority vote in any case.

Scientific questions cannot be decided by majority vote in any case.

Stephen Jay Gould
We must categorize and simplify in order to comprehend. But the reduction of complexity entails a great danger, since the line between enlightening epitome and vulgarized distortion is so fine.

We must categorize and simplify in order to comprehend. But the reduction of complexity entails a great danger, since the line between enlightening epitome and vulgarized distortion is so fine.

Stephen Jay Gould
This new consensus seemed so compelling that Ernst Mayr, the dean of modern Darwinians, opened the ashcan of history for a deposit of Geoffrey's ideas about anatomical unity.

This new consensus seemed so compelling that Ernst Mayr, the dean of modern Darwinians, opened the ashcan of history for a deposit of Geoffrey's ideas about anatomical unity.

Stephen Jay Gould
Evolution is one of the two or three most primally fascinating subjects in all the sciences.

Evolution is one of the two or three most primally fascinating subjects in all the sciences.

Stephen Jay Gould
A lot of scientists hate writing. Most scientists love being in the lab and doing the work and when the work is done, they are finished.

A lot of scientists hate writing. Most scientists love being in the lab and doing the work and when the work is done, they are finished.

Stephen Jay Gould
There wasn't much technical terminology, and then, most academics are not trained in writing. And there is what is probably worse than ever before, the growing use of professional jargon.

There wasn't much technical terminology, and then, most academics are not trained in writing. And there is what is probably worse than ever before, the growing use of professional jargon.

Stephen Jay Gould
I don't think academic writing ever was wonderful. However, science used to be much less specialized.

I don't think academic writing ever was wonderful. However, science used to be much less specialized.

Stephen Jay Gould