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Civilization is to groups what intelligence is to individuals. It is a means of combining the intelligence of many to achieve ongoing group adaptation.

— Octavia Butler Parable of the Sower (1993)

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More quotes by Octavia Butler

If everyone could feel everyone else’s pain, who would torture?

Parable of the Sower (1993)

Life is getting better, but that won’t stop a war if politicians and business people decide it’s to their advantage to have one.

Parable of the Talents (1998)

Short-lived people, people who could die, did not know what enemies loneliness and boredom could be.

Wild Seed (1980)

You tend to resent people you’re afraid of.

Parable of the Sower (1993)

It’s better to teach people than to scare them, Lauren. If you scare them and nothing happens, they lose their fear, and you lose some of your authority with them.

Parable of the Sower (1993)

All Octavia Butler quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Octavia Butler (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.