E. O. Wilson Quotes About Virtue

Quotes about: Virtue

• I'm very much a Christian in ideals and ethics, especially in terms of belief in fairness, a deep set obligation to others, and the virtues of charity, tolerance and generosity that we associate with traditional Christian teaching.

  E. O. Wilson

  Christian, Teaching, Generosity

• Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society. If one colony member devotes its life to service over marriage, the individual is of benefit to the society, even though it does not have personal offspring. A soldier going into battle will benefit his country, but he runs a higher risk of death than one who does not. An altruist benefits the group, but a layabout or coward who saves his own energy and reduces his bodily risk passes the resulting social cost to others.

  E. O. Wilson

  Running, Country, Soldier

• Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others. It is not obedience to authority, and while it is often consistent with and reinforced by religious belief, it is not piety.

  E. O. Wilson

  Religious, Character, Atheism

  E. O. Wilson (2014). “Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge”, p.365, Vintage

• True character arises from a deeper well than religion. It is the internalization of moral principles of a society, augmented by those tenets personally chosen by the individual, strong enough to endure through trials of solitude and adversity. The principles are fitted together into what we call integrity, literally the integrated self, wherein personal decisions feel good and true. Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others.

  E. O. Wilson

  Strong, Integrity, Character

  "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge". Book by E. O. Wilson, 1998.

• Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.

  E. O. Wilson

  Selfishness, Groups, Sin

• In science, obsessiveness under psychological control can be a virtue.

  E. O. Wilson

  Virtue, Psychological

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