“While I agree… that indifference is indeed our most dangerous capacity, I actually do believe that it's on the wane.”

—  Ursula Goodenough

"Indifference: Far And Away The Most Dangerous Human Capacity", 13.7: Cosmos & Culture (28 April 2011)
Context: While I agree… that indifference is indeed our most dangerous capacity, I actually do believe that it's on the wane.
When I scroll back to my 1950's Connecticut girlhood and recall how clueless everyone was about just about everything, how we mindlessly parroted concepts like "Better Dead Than Red" and the "Domino Theory," how my friends were all lily-white and Koreans were gooks and I would have had no idea where to find Nigeria on a map – when I go back there and then think about Adam's students and my students and my kids and what they've come to understand and care about, it gets a whole lot better.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "While I agree… that indifference is indeed our most dangerous capacity, I actually do believe that it's on the wane." by Ursula Goodenough?
Ursula Goodenough photo
Ursula Goodenough64
American biologist 1943

Related quotes

Peter Medawar photo

“I do not believe—indeed, I deem it a comic blunder to believe—that the exercise of reason is sufficient to explain our condition and where necessary to remedy it, but I do believe that the exercise of reason is at all times necessary…”

Peter Medawar (1915–1987) scientist

The Limits of Science. (New York: Harper & Row, 1984) p. 98.
1980s

George W. Bush photo

“We'll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

2000s, 2002, State of the Union address (January 2002)

Alex Salmond photo

“This Government believes that it would be economically advantageous for Scotland to be an independent country. Other parties disagree. But as we continue that debate, let us at least agree that this country - our country - has the capacity to become one of the most successful economies on the planet.”

Alex Salmond (1954) Scottish National Party politician and former First Minister of Scotland

Strategic objectives of new Government (May 23, 2007)

Bill Maher photo

“To most Christians, the Bible is like a software license. Nobody actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click 'I agree'.”

Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian

Franco Modigliani photo

“I believe people can solve complex problems eventually. By repeated trial and error they will get there; but they need a long time. At this point I agree with Herbert Simon. People do not learn immediately, as those rational expectations models seem to imply. I don't believe that.
The statement that assumptions do not matter is nonsense. It is funny. Yes, I assume people are consistent in their behavior. I assume that not because I believe everybody actually is, but because I believe, on the average, you do not get too far from it.”

Franco Modigliani (1918–2003) Italian-American economist

Conversations with Economists (1983)

“I do not agree with you, but if you do not agree with yourself either, then I agree with you.”

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

Yo no estoy conforme de ti. Pero si tú tampoco estás conforme de ti, yo estoy conforme de ti.
Voces (1943)

Alexis De Tocqueville photo

“The French are … the most brilliant and the most dangerous nation of Europe, and the one that is surest to inspire admiration, hatred, terror, or pity, but never indifference.”

Alexis De Tocqueville book The Old Regime and the Revolution

Original text: La France est la plus brillante et la plus dangereuse des nations de l&#x27;Europe, et la mieux faite pour y devenir tour à tour un objet d&#x27;admiration, de haine, de pitié, de terreur, mais jamais d&#x27;indifférence. <br class="br">Variant translation: The French constitute the most brilliant and the most dangerous nation in Europe and the best qualified in turn to become an object of admiration, hatred, pity or terror but never indifference. <br class="br">Old Regime (1856), p. 245 http://books.google.com/books?id=N50aibeL8BAC&amp;pg=PA254&amp;vq=%22the+most+brilliant+and+the+most+dangerous%22&amp;source=gbs_search_r&amp;cad=1_1 <br class="br">1850s and later

“While I do not believe that there is a purely military solution to this conflict, I do believe that there will be a military component to any viable solution.”

Jo Cox (1974–2016) UK politician

Don’t leave Syria to become a graveyard — this generation’s responsibility to the world (13 October 2015)

Boris Johnson photo

“Nor do I propose to defend the right to talk on a mobile while driving a car, though I don't believe that is necessarily any more dangerous than the many other risky things that people do with their free hands while driving - nose-picking, reading the paper, studying the A-Z, beating the children, and so on.”

Boris Johnson (1964) British politician, historian and journalist

"To the lady who berated me, I say: on your bike", Daily Telegraph, 1 August 2002, p. 21.
2000s, 2002

Related topics