Can I pay any higher tribute to a man [George Gaylord Simpson] than to state that his work both established a profession and sowed the seeds for its own revision? If Simpson had reached final truth, he either would have been a priest or would have chosen a dull profession. The history of life cannot be a dull profession.

Theory and fact are equally strong and utterly interdependent; one has no meaning without the other. We need theory to organize and interpret facts, even to know what we can or might observe. And we need facts to validate theories and give them substance.

If I have any insight at all to contribute it is this: find out what you are really good at and stick to it.

The proof of evolution lies in those adaptations that arise from improbable foundations.

If genius has any common denominator, I would propose breadth of interest and the ability to construct fruitful analogies between fields.

... a local, indigenous, American bizarre-ity.

Wind back the tape of life to the early days of the Burgess Shale; let it play again from an identical starting point, and the chance becomes vanishingly small that anything like human intelligence would grace the replay.