Intelligence takes chances with limited data in an arena where mistakes are not only possible but also necessary.

The thing the ecologically illiterate don't realize about an ecosystem is that it's a system. A system! A system maintains a certain fluid stability that can be destroyed by a misstep in just one niche.

Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty.

Is evolution just another name for God?

If all those around you believe some particular thing, you will soon be tempted to share in that belief.

I am not the kind of person I want to be.

For now is my grief heavier than the sands of the seas, she thought. This world has emptied me of all but the oldest purpose: tomorrow's life.