“The Creator, if He exists, has a special preference for beetles.” IfsSpecialCreatorPreferenceFondnessBeetles Author:John B. S. Haldane
“Now, if the cooperation of some thousands of millions of cells in our brain can produce our consciousness, a true singularity, the idea becomes vastly more plausible that the cooperation of humanity, or some sections of it, may determine what Comte calls a Great Being.” IfsMayIdeasHumanityBrainConsciousnessMillionsProduceDetermineCellsCooperationSectionsPlausibleSingularity Author:John B. S. Haldane
“I will give up my belief in evolution if someone finds a fossil rabbit in the Precambrian.” IfsGivingBeliefEvolutionGiving UpFossilsRabbits Author:John B. S. Haldane
“If human beings could be propagated by cutting, like apple trees, aristocracy would be biologically sound.” IfsHumansWould BeSoundHuman BeingsCuttingTreeApplesAristocracyApple Trees Author:John B. S. Haldane
“Blake expressed some doubt as to whether God had made the tiger. But the tiger is in many ways an admirable animal. We have now to ask whether God made the tapeworm. And it is questionable whether an affirmative answer fits in either with what we know about the process of evolution or what many of us believe about the moral perfection of God.” IfsKnowsWayBelieveMadeAsksProcessAnswersAnimalMoralDoubtEvolutionFitPerfectionTigersAdmirableAffirmativeQuestionableBlakeMoral Perfection Author:John B. S. Haldane
“It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.” IfsMindMayDoeMatterReasonSeemsBeliefProcessSoundBrainProductsMereDeterminedNo ReasonAtomsUnlikelySupposingSupposing That Author:John B. S. Haldane
“My practise as a scientist is atheistic. That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume that no god, angel, or devil is going to interfere with its course; and this assumption has been justified by such success as I have achieved in my professional career. I should therefore be intellectually dishonest if I were not also atheistic in the affairs of the world. And I should be a coward if I did not state my theoretical views in public.” IfsWorldShouldHas BeensStatesSuccessReligionCoursesViewsCareersAtheismDevilAngelScientistAssumingAffairExperimentsAssumptionCowardInterfereScience And ReligionJustifiedTheoreticalAtheisticPractiseScience ReligionProfessional Career Author:John B. S. Haldane
“If materialism is true, it seems to me that we cannot know that it is true. If my opinions are the result of the chemical processes going on in my brain, they are determined by the laws of chemistry, not those of logic.” IfsKnowsSeemsLawScienceProcessResultsBrainOpinionLogicDeterminedMaterialismChemistryChemicals Author:John B. S. Haldane
“If one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of creation it would appear that God has an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles.” IfsStarsStudyCreationCreatorFondnessBeetles Author:John B. S. Haldane
“And if we must educate our poets and artists in science, we must educate our masters, labour and capital, in art.” IfsArtArtistEducationPoetMastersLabourEducate Author:John B. S. Haldane
