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Yes, Shakespeare foremost and forever (Darwin too). But also teach about the excellence of pygmy bushcraft and Fuegian survival in the world's harshest climate. Dignity and inspiration come in many guises. Would anyone choose the tinhorn patriotism of George Armstrong Custer over the eloquence of Chief Joseph in defeat?

— Stephen Jay Gould Eight Little Piggies (1993)

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Inspirational

More quotes by Stephen Jay Gould

If there is any consistent enemy of science, it is not religion, but irrationalism.

Ever Since Darwin (1977)

Great theories are expansive; failures mire us in dogmatism and tunnel vision.

Eight Little Piggies (1993)

Details are all that matters: God dwells there, and you never get to see Him if you don't struggle to get them right.

Eight Little Piggies (1993)

The world, unfortunately, rarely matches our hopes and consistently refuses to behave in a reasonable manner.

The Panda's Thumb (1980)

The study of social setting does not imply either the irrelevance or nonexistence of a factual world out there.

An Urchin in the Storm (1987)

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Courage is never born with a person; time and circumstances inject it into a person and bring it forth from within.

Sanu Sharma

They who lack talent expect things to happen without effort.

Eric Hoffer Reflections on the Human Condition (1973)

I'll get an inspiration and start painting; then I'll forget everything, everything except how things used to be and how to paint it so people will know how we used to live.

Grandma Moses

I’m tired of ignorance held up as inspiration, where vicious anti-intellectualism is considered a positive trait, and where uninformed opinion is displayed as fact.

Phil Plait

Attribution

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