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Human memory, they say, is like a coat closet: The most enduring outcome of a formal education is that it creates rows of coat hooks so that later on, when you come upon a new piece of information, you have a hook to hang it on. Without a hook, the new information falls on the floor.

— Ursula Goodenough The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998)

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More quotes by Ursula Goodenough

We do have something of a story here, a true story, that we can work with religiously should we elect to do so.

Any global tradition needs to begin with a shared worldview — a culture-independent, globally accepted consensus as to how things are.

The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998)

We nurture our children selflessly. But we also recognize them as our most tangible sources of renewal — for a child, the world is always new.

The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998)

When I sing the hymns of faith in Jesus' love, I am drawn to their intimacy, their allure, their poetry. But in the end, such faith is simply not available to me.

The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998)

Life from nonlife, like wine from water, has long been considered a miracle wrought by gods or God. Now it is seen to be the near-inevitable consequence of our thermal and chemical circumstances.

The Sacred Depths of Nature (1998)

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