This week, after the loss of E.O. Wilson, we're looking back on some of the most prolific quotes from his work as a biologist — and his musings about life.
Quotes from E. O. Wilson about earth, humans, and making the world a better place:
1. “You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path. Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure. Persist! The world needs all you can give.” — E.O. Wilson
2. “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” — E.O. Wilson
3. “Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.” — E.O. Wilson
4. “Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.” — E.O. Wilson
5. “Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds... is not productive.” — E.O. Wilson
6. “Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled my energies and drove me in new directions.” — E.O. Wilson
7. “A very Faustian choice is upon us: whether to accept our corrosive and risky behavior as the unavoidable price of population and economic growth, or to take stock of ourselves and search for a new environmental ethic.” — E.O. Wilson
8. “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.” — E.O. Wilson
9. “The education of women is the best way to save the environment.” — E.O. Wilson
10. “Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.” — E.O. Wilson
→ Read more quotes on activism
11. “Only in the last moment of human history has the delusion arisen that people can flourish apart from the rest of the living world.” — E.O. Wilson
→ Read the best quotes about hope and optimism
12. “Every kid has a bug period... I never grew out of mine.” — E.O. Wilson
