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.

Evolution by natural selection is not an idle hypothesis. The genetic variation on which selection acts is well understood in principle all the way down to the molecular level.

Common sense is merely unaided intuition, and unaided intuition is reasoning performed in the absense of instruments and the tested knowledge of science. Common sense tells us that massive satellites cannot hang suspended 36,000 kilometers above the one point on the earth's surface, but they do.

Science needs the intuition and metaphorical power of the arts, and the arts need the fresh blood of science ... Interpretation is the logical channel of consilient explanation between science and the arts. The arts ... also nourish our craving for the mystical.

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

The work on ants has profoundly affected the way I think about humans.

Humanity is exalted not because we are so far above other living creatures, but because knowing them well elevates the very concept of life.