“ We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit impose… 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. Stephen Jay Gould
“ Objectivity cannot be equated with mental blankness; rather, objectivity resides in recognizing your preferences and then subjecting them to especially harsh scrutiny — and also in a willingness to re… Stephen Jay Gould
“ Astronomy defined our home as a small planet tucked away in one corner of an average galaxy among million; biology took away our status as paragons created in the image of God; geology gave us the imm… Stephen Jay Gould
“ Geology gave us the immensity of time and taught us how little of it our own species has occupied. Stephen Jay Gould
“ I had learned that a dexterous, opposable thumb stood among the hallmarks of human success. We had maintained, even exaggerated, this important flexibility of our primate forebears, while most mammals… Stephen Jay Gould
“ Why should our nastiness be the baggage of an apish past and our kindness uniquely human? Why should we not seek continuity with other animals for our 'noble' traits as well? 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. Stephen Jay Gould
“ The idea of decimation as a lottery converts the new iconography of the Burgess Shale into a radical view about the pathways of life and the nature of history. ... May our poor and improbable species… Stephen Jay Gould
“ In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not… Stephen Jay Gould
“ We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be s… Stephen Jay Gould
“ If I don't make it, I'll be very sad that there are things I didn't do, but I'm happy that I've done what I have. Stephen Jay Gould
“ No Geologist worth anything is permanently bound to a desk or laboratory, but the charming notion that true science can only be based on unbiased observation of nature in the raw is mythology. Creativ… Stephen Jay Gould
“ People, as curious primates, dote on concrete objects that can be seen and fondled. God dwells among the details, not in the realm of pure generality. We must tackle and grasp the larger, encompassing… Stephen Jay Gould
“ There are no shortcuts to moral insight. Nature is not intrinsically anything that can offer comfort or solace in human terms -- if only because our species is such an insignificant latecomer in a wor… Stephen Jay Gould
“ We reveal ourselves in the metaphors we choose for depicting the cosmos in miniature. Stephen Jay Gould
“ Death is the ultimate enemy - and I find nothing reproachable in those who rage mightily against the dying of the light. Stephen Jay Gould
“ This is a changing world. It changes from day to day, year to year, and from age to age. Rivers deepen their gorges as they carry more land to the sea. Mountains rise, only to be leveled gradually by… Stephen Jay Gould
