Stephen Jay Gould

"In return for this great gift that I could not repay in a thousand lifetimes, at least I can promise that, although I have frequently advanced wrong, or even stupid, arguments , at least I have never …"

"In this crucial sense, the theory of punctuated equilibrium adopts a very conservative position. The theory asserts no novel claim about modes or mechanisms of speciation; punctuated equilibrium merel…"

"e do live in a conceptual trough that encourages such yearning for unknown and romanticized greener pastures of other times. The future doesn't seem promising, if only because we can extrapolate some …"

"No more harmful nonsense exists than common supposition that deepest insight into great questions about the meaning of life or the structure of reality emerges most readily when a free, undisciplined,…"

"We should therefore, with grace and optimism, embrace NOMA's tough-minded demand: Acknowledge the personal character of these human struggles about morals and meanings, and stop looking for definite a…"

"The intricate and different life cycles of both male and female root-heads, and the great behavioral sophistication shown by the female in reconfiguring a host crab as a support system, all underscore…"

"s we discern a fine line between crank and genius, so also we must acknowledge an equally graded trajectory from crank to demagogue. When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hope…"

"Organisms are directed and limited by their past. They must remain imperfect in their form and function, and to that extent unpredictable since they are not optimal machines. We cannot know their futu…"