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. WilsonDestroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.
E. O. WilsonScience and technology are what we can do; morality is what we agree we should or should not do.
E. O. WilsonWe should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.
E. O. WilsonHuman existence may be simpler than we thought. There is no predestination, no unfathomed mystery of life. Demons and gods do not vie for our allegiance. Instead, we are self-made, independent, alone, and fragile, a biological species adapted to live in a biological world. What counts for long-term survival is intelligent self-understanding, based upon a greater independence of thought than that tolerated today even in our most advanced democratic societies.
E. O. WilsonMost people believe they know how they themselves think, how others think too, and even how institutions evolve. But they are wrong. Their understanding is based on folk psychology, the grasp of human nature by common sense ¾ defined (by Einstein) as everything learned to the age of 18 ¾ shot through with misconceptions, and only slightly advanced over ideas employed by the Greek philosophers
E. O. Wilson