E. O. Wilson

Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.

We have decommissioned natural selection and must now look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.

Well, let me tell you, ants are the dominant insects. They make up as much as a quarter of the biomass of all insects in the world. They are the principal predators. They're the cemetery workers.

I thought perhaps it should be recognized that religious people, including fundamentalists, are quite intelligent, many of them are highly educated, and they should be treated with complete respect.

I see no way out of the problems that organized religion and tribalism create other than humans just becoming more honest and fully aware of themselves.

People need a sacred narrative. They must have a sense of larger purpose, in one form or another, however intellectualized. They will find a way to keep ancestral spirits alive.

Perhaps the time has come to cease calling it the 'environmentalist' view, as though it were a lobbying effort outside the mainstream of human activity, and to start calling it the real-world view.

One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.

Our brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it's a map with constant immediate sensory input.

Sometimes a concept is baffling not because it is profound but because it is wrong.

What we need is an electronic encyclopedia of life, with one page for each species. On each page is given everything known about that species.

Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds... is not productive.

When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.

Political ideology can corrupt the mind, and science.

In a purely technical sense, each species of higher organism-beetle, moss, and so forth, is richer in information than a Caravaggio painting, Mozart symphony, or any other great work of art.

Every native species, however humble in appearance...has its place in the nation's heritage. It is a masterpiece of evolution, an ancient, multifaceted entity that shares the land with us.

No barrier stands between the material world of science and the sensibilities of the hunter and the poet.

If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth.

Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterpiece, exquisitely adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?

[The natural world cleans water, pollinates plants and provides pharmaceuticals, among many other gifts.] Thirty trillion dollars worth of services, scot-free to humanity, every year.

The time has come to link ecology to economic and human development. When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all. What is happening to the rain forests of Madagascar and Brazil will affect us all.