“The world is a complex place. In our struggles to simplify and understand, we often identify some bugbear and then make it responsible for all evils.”

Source: An Urchin in the Storm (1987) "Utopia, Limited", p. 218

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 30, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The world is a complex place. In our struggles to simplify and understand, we often identify some bugbear and then make…" by Stephen Jay Gould?
Stephen Jay Gould photo
Stephen Jay Gould 274
American evolutionary biologist 1941–2002

Related quotes

Madeline Kahn photo

“Laughter is a strange response. I mean, what is it? It's a spasm of some kind! Is that always joy? It's very often discomfort. It's some sort of explosive reaction. It's very complex.”

Madeline Kahn (1942–1999) American actress

1989 interview. Reported in William H. Honan, The New York Times (December 4, 1999) "Madeline Kahn: Funny Actress in 'Blazing Saddles'", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p. A-11
Attributed

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Anthony Watts photo

“Often we lose sight of our place in the universe, some never knew at all just how miniscule we humans are compared to everything else.”

Anthony Watts (1958) American television meteorologist

Galactic Perspective http://wattsupwiththat.com/2007/05/04/galactic-perspective/, wattsupwiththat.com, May 4 2007.
2007

Louis Poinsot photo
Christopher Paolini photo
Arthur Miller photo

“It is always and forever the same struggle: to perceive somehow our own complicity with evil is a horror not to be borne. … much more reassuring to see the world in terms of totally innocent victims and totally evil instigators of the monstrous violence we see all about us. At all costs, never disturb our innocence.”

Arthur Miller (1915–2005) playwright from the United States

"With respect for Her Agony — but with Love" in LIFE magazine (7 February 1964)
Context: It is always and forever the same struggle: to perceive somehow our own complicity with evil is a horror not to be borne. … much more reassuring to see the world in terms of totally innocent victims and totally evil instigators of the monstrous violence we see all about us. At all costs, never disturb our innocence. But what is the most innocent place in any country? Is it not the insane asylum? These people drift through life truly innocent, unable to see into themselves at all. The perfection of innocence, indeed, is madness.

Ellen Page photo

“We know who we are. People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place.”

Ellen Page (1987) Canadian actress

Elliot Page Is Ready for This Moment https://time.com/5947032/elliot-page/, 16 March 2021
2021

Herbert A. Simon photo

“Economic man deals with the "real world" in all its complexity. Administrative man recognizes that the world he perceives is a drastic simplified model… He makes his choices using a simple picture of the situation that takes into account just a few of the factors that he regards as most relevant and crucial.”

Source: 1940s-1950s, Administrative Behavior, 1947, p. xxix; As cited in: Jesper Simonsen (1994) Administrative Behavior: How Organizations can be Understood in Terms of Decision Processes http://jespersimonsen.dk/Downloads/Simon-introduction.pdf. Roskilde Universitet.

Scott Derrickson photo
John Lancaster Spalding photo

“Culture makes the whole world our dwelling place; our palace in which we take our ease and find ourselves at one with all things.”

John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) Catholic bishop

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 197

Related topics