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“He (Thomas Ray) had discovered that the notion of a host-parasite arms race is one of the most basic and unavoidable consequences of evolution.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 3

“As every bird-watcher knows, the beauty of a bird's song is inversely correlated with the colourfulness of its plumage.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 5

“The longer your generation time, the more genetic mixing you need to combat your parasite.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 3

“…then the study of human nature must have profound implications for the study of history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and politics. Each of those disciplines is an attempt to understand human behaviour, and if the underlying universals of human behaviour are product of evolution, then it is vitally important to understand what the evolutionary pressures were.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 1. Human Nature

“…conditioning usually reinforces instinct rather than overrides it.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 6

“In behavior, as in appearance, every human individual is unique.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 1. Human Nature

“In history, and in evolution, progress is always a futile, Sisyphean struggle to stay in the same relative place by getting ever better at things. Cars move through the congested streets of London no faster than horse-drawn carriages.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 1. Human Nature

“As one of Kondrashov's critics put it, sex is a 'cumbersome strange tool to have evolved fro a housekeeping role”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 3

“Evolution is more about reproduction of the fittest than survival of the fittest; every creature on earth is the product of a series of historical battles between parasites and hosts, between genes and other genes, between members of the same species, between members of one gender in competitions for members of the other gender.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 5

“Advertising works. Brand names are better known if advertised with sexy or alluring pictures, and better-known brands sell better. Why does it work? Because the price the consumer would have to pay in ignoring the subliminal message is just to high. Better to be fooled into buying the second best ice-cream than go to all the bother of educating yourself into the ability to resist salesmen.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 5

“Computer viruses have since become a worldwide problem. It begins to look as if parasites are inevitable in any system of life.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 3

“People are attracted to people of high reproductive and genetic potential -the healthy, the fit and the powerful. The consequences of this fact, which goes under the name of sexual selection, are bizarre in the extreme.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 1. Human Nature

“Evolving is not a goal but a means to solving a problem.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 2. The Enigma

“So sex equals genetic mixing.”

Matt Ridley

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 2. The Enigma

“Determinism looks backwards to the causes of the present state, not forward to the consequences.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 22 “Free Will” (p. 307)

“The main purpose of most genes in the human genome is regulating the expression of other genes in the genome.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 10 “Stress” (p. 150)

“Nobody doubts that genes can shape anatomy. The idea that they also shape behaviour takes a lot more swallowing.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 7 “Instinct” (p. 91)

“That life is chemistry is true but boring, like saying that football is physics.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 1 “Life” (p. 15)

“Life is a slippery thing to define, but it consists of two very different skills: the ability to replicate, and the ability to create order.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 1 “Life” (p. 12)

“Freedom lies in expressing your own determinism, not somebody else’s. It is not the determinism that makes a difference, but the ownership. If freedom is what we prefer, then it is preferable to be determined by forces that originate in ourselves and not in others.”

Matt Ridley book Genome

Source: Genome (1999), Chapter 22 “Free Will” (p. 313)