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Quotes by E. O. Wilson

The work on ants has profoundly affected the way I think about humans.
– E. O. Wilson
The education of women is the best way to save the environment.
– E. O. Wilson
The biological evolutionary perception of life and of human qualities is radically different from that of traditional religion, whether it's Southern Baptist or Islam or any religion that believes in a supernatural supervalance over humanity.
– E. O. Wilson
So in my freshman year at the University of Alabama, learning the literature on evolution, what was known about it biologically, just gradually transformed me by taking me out of literalism and increasingly into a more secular, scientific view of the world.
– E. O. Wilson
Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds... is not productive.
– E. O. Wilson
Religious beliefs evolved by group-selection, tribe competing against tribe, and the illogic of religions is not a weakness but their essential strength.
– E. O. Wilson
People respect nonfiction but they read novels.
– E. O. Wilson
Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.
– E. O. Wilson
In my heart, I'm an Alabaman who went up north to work.
– E. O. Wilson
If we were to wipe out insects alone on this planet, the rest of life and humanity with it would mostly disappear from the land. Within a few months.
– E. O. Wilson
If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth.
– E. O. Wilson
I was a senior in high school when I decided I wanted to work on ants as a career. I just fell in love with them, and have never regretted it.
– E. O. Wilson
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.
– E. O. Wilson
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.
– E. O. Wilson
I had in mind a message, although I hope it doesn't intrude too badly, persuading Americans, and especially Southerners, of the critical importance of land and our vanishing natural environment and wildlife.
– E. O. Wilson
For me, the peculiar qualities of faith are a logical outcome of this level of biological organization.
– E. O. Wilson
But I feel music has a very important role in ritual activity, and that being able to join in musical activity, along with dancing, could have been necessary at a very early stage of human culture.
– E. O. Wilson