“The human mind delights in finding pattern—so much so that we often mistake coincidence or forced analogy for profound meaning. No other habit of thought lies so deeply within the soul of a small creature trying to make sense of a complex world not constructed for it.”

—  Stephen Jay Gould, book The Flamingo's Smile

"The Rule of Five", p. 199
The Flamingo's Smile (1985)

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Stephen Jay Gould274
American evolutionary biologist 1941–2002

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