Gaylord Quotes & Sayings

Gaylord (Perry) is a very honorable man. He only calls for the spitter when he needs it. — Gabe Paul

Every person has the inalienable right to a decent environment. — Gaylord Nelson

Franklin Roosevelt was very concerned about environmental issues. — Gaylord Nelson

You try and learn from some people's mistakes. But you have to really trust the people who are working for you because they make a lot of decisions that could either do well for you or really screw up your image. — Mitch Gaylord

The snow came after two o' clock. It fell faintly in the cones of lamplight, descending like fleets or fairies through the cold sky. I was awake - the only one in town, I was sure - and I was sure those miniature fallen sylphs were for me and my personal delectation. They came for me, because nature likes a saint. They settled on my window sill, they collected on the dark grass of my lawn, they danced and whirled in the wind gusts before my eyes. I put my hand to the windowpane to greet it, the first snow. By the time I woke in the morning, I saw that after the snow had come to me, it had visited everyone. — Joshua Gaylord

Recognition of this kinship with the rest of the universe is necessary for understanding him, but his essential nature is defined by qualities found nowhere else, not by those he has in common with apes, fishes, trees, fire, or anything other than himself. — George Gaylord Simpson

The passion for naming things is an odd human trait. It is strange that men always feel so much more at ease when they have put appellations on the things around them and that a wild, new region almost seems familiar and subdued once enough names have been used on it, even though in fact it is not changed in the slightest. Or, on second thought, it is perhaps not really strange. The urge to name must be as old as the human race, as old as speech which is one of the really fundamental characteristics by which we rise above the brutes, and thus a basic and essential part of the human spirit or soul. The naming fallacy is common enough even in science. Many a scientist claims to have explained some phenomenon when in truth all he has done is to give it a name. — George Gaylord Simpson

I don't think that evolution is supremely important because it is my specialty; it is my specialty because I think it is supremely important. [In: Edward J. Larson (2004) Evolution, Modern Library. p. 250] — George Gaylord Simpson

Discipline is the quality that carries over from gymnastics to acting. — Mitch Gaylord

I thought it must be difficult for him, for boys. They get temperamental when they can't shape the world into what they want it to be. It's easier for girls. Girls are raised knowing that the world is unshapable. So they know better than to fuss. — Joshua Gaylord

I'd always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. I never wanted to be caught out there with anything though, it wouldn't be professional. — Gaylord Perry

He (Gaylord Perry) should be in the Hall of Fame with a tube of KY jelly attached to his plaque. — Gene Mauch

Species evolve exactly as if they were adapting as best they could to a changing world, and not at all as if they were moving toward a set goal. — George Gaylord Simpson

Certainly paleontologists have found samples of an extremely small fraction, only, of the earth's extinct species, and even for groups that are most readily preserved and found as fossils they can never expect to find more than a fraction. — George Gaylord Simpson

Of Dixie Doyle it is said that she could convince grown men of anything. While she is only a mediocre student and a wholly untalented tennis player, she possesses a quality of performed girlishness that turns sex into a ragged paradox for men beyond the age of thirty. She speaks with the hint of a babyish lisp, the pink end of her tongue frequently peeking out from between her teeth, but her eyes are implacable fields of gray that at any moment could conceal everything you imagine - or nothing at all. She might be an X-ray registering the skeleton of your soul, or, like Oscar Wilde's women, she might be a sphinx without a secret. — Joshua Gaylord

Wait until Tommy Lasorda meets the Lord and finds out He's wearing pinstripes — Gaylord Perry

Splitting and gradual divergence of genera is exemplified very well and in a large variety of organisms. — George Gaylord Simpson

All nations are degrading and consuming their environment to a point beyond capacity. In the past 15 years in the U.S. we have added 1300 cities with populations over 100,000. When the environment is forced to file Chapter 11, the ecology collapses. Nations recover from war but not from a failed eco-system. The status of our environment is more threatening than all wars. It is forever. — Gaylord Nelson

Human judgment is notoriously fallible and perhaps seldom more so than in facile decisions that a character has no adaptive significance because we do not know the use of it. — George Gaylord Simpson

From horses we may learn not only about the horse itself but also about animals in general, indeed about ourselves and about life as a whole. — George Gaylord Simpson

They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run. — Gaylord Perry

[Darwin] gave an answer to the tremendous question that so deeply concerns...What is Man? [He] answered this question to the effect that man is a natural product of the universe;...man is an animal, a vertebrate, a mammal, and a primate....By bringing man into the evolutionary picture, Darwin finally took the last step in our emancipation and finally made our world rational. [Yet] Darwin felt humility and awe that seem to me truly religious. ["Darwin led us into this modern world," 1959, p. 271-272.] — George Gaylord Simpson

We are always told that honesty and truth are the shining ideals. But sometimes the truth could be used as a punishment. — Joshua Gaylord

The greatest memory for me of the 1984 Olympics was not the individual honors, but standing on the podium with my teammates to receive our team gold medal. — Mitch Gaylord

Almost all paleontologists recognize that the discovery of a complete transition is in any case unlikely. — George Gaylord Simpson

The fate of the living planet is the most important issue facing mankind. — Gaylord Nelson

Can I pay any higher tribute to a man [George Gaylord Simpson] than to state that his work both established a profession and sowed the seeds for its own revision? If Simpson had reached final truth, he either would have been a priest or would have chosen a dull profession. The history of life cannot be a dull profession. — Stephen Jay Gould

Who's out there?" I say.
"Just teenagers," my father says.
"Why are they like that?"
"That's just the way they are."
"Will I be like that when I grow up?"
"You? Perish the thought. — Joshua Gaylord

Now we do have many examples of transitional sequences. — George Gaylord Simpson

Adrenaline is an amazing thing. — Mitch Gaylord

All economic activity is dependent upon that environment and its underlying resource base of forests, water, air, soil, and minerals. When the environment is finally forced to file for bankruptcy because its resource base has been polluted, degraded, dissipated, and irretrievably compromised, the economy goes into bankruptcy with it. — Gaylord Nelson

We must recognize that we're all part of a web of life around the world. Anytime you extinguish a species, the consequences are serious. — Gaylord Nelson

We live our lives by measures of weeks, months, years, but the creatures we truly are, those are exposed in fractions of moments. — Joshua Gaylord

I reckon I tried everything on the old apple, but salt and pepper and chocolate sauce topping. — Gaylord Perry

He wakes into music the green forest-bowers. — Willis Gaylord Clark

I confess I could never see any good reason why dirt should always be a necessary concomitant of poverty. — Willis Gaylord Clark

Every paleontologist knows that most new species, genera, and families, and that nearly all categories above the level of family appear in the record suddenly and are not led up to by known, gradual, completely continuous transitional sequences. — George Gaylord Simpson

Over and over again in the study of the history of life it appears that what can happen does happen. There is little suggestion that what occurs must occur, that it was fated or that it follows some fixed plan, except simply as the expansion of life follows the opportunities that are presented. In this sense, an outstanding characteristic of evolution is its opportunism.["Meaning of Evolution," 1949, p. 160.] — George Gaylord Simpson

Do for yourself or do without. — Gaylord Perry

T]he state Republican chairman, Gaylord Parkinson, postulated what he called the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. — Ronald Reagan

Trails are relatively inexpensive. A splendid national network of all kinds of trails can be established at less cost than a few hundred miles of super highway. — Gaylord Nelson

There is no domestic issue more important to America in the long run than the conservation and proper use of our natural resources, including fresh water, clean air, tillable soil, forests, wilderness, habitat for wildlife, minerals and recreational assets. — Gaylord Nelson

I'm going to be an actor. — Mitch Gaylord

We're going to have to do a whole lot more, and give nature at least a chance to repair some of the damage we've done. — Gaylord Nelson

The earliest and most primitive known members of every order already have the basic ordinal characters, and in no case is an approximately continuous sequence from one order to another known. In most cases the break is so sharp and the gap so large that the origin of the order is speculative and much disputed. — George Gaylord Simpson

Primarily, every rule change over the past ten years has been against the pitchers - lowering the mound and the designated hitter. — Gaylord Perry

When I was young, all I wanted to do was to compete, have fun and travel. — Mitch Gaylord

Among the things most characteristic of organisms--most distinctive of living as opposed to inorganic systems--is a sort of directedness. Their structures and activities have an adaptedness, an evident and vital usefulness to the organism. Darwin's answer and ours is to accept the common sense view...[that] the end ("telos") [is] that the individual and the species may survive. But this end is (usually) unconscious and impersonal. Naive teleology is controverted not by ignoring the obvious existence of such ends but by providing a naturalistic, materialistic explanation of the adaptive characteristics serving them. [Book review in "Science," 1959, p. 673.] — George Gaylord Simpson

If we human beings learn to see the intricacies that bind one part of a natural system to another and then to us, we will no longer argue about the importance of wilderness protection, or over the question of saving endangered species, or how human communities must base their economic futures - not on short-term exploitation - but on long-term, sustainable development. — Gaylord Nelson

In the voice of mirth there may be excitement, but in the tones of mourning there is consolation. — Willis Gaylord Clark

Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned. — George Gaylord Simpson

There is a difference between jaywalking and grand larceny. — Gaylord Perry

Of course the orders all converge backward in time, to different degrees. — George Gaylord Simpson

If you do a scene the right way, you can go home at the end of the day and really feel like you accomplished something. — Mitch Gaylord

The ultimate test of man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard. — Gaylord Nelson

The conflict between science and religion has a single and simple cause. It is the designation as religiously canonical of any conception of the material world open to scientific investigation....As a matter of fact, most of the dogmatic religions have exhibited a perverse talent for taking the wrong side on the most important concepts of the material universe, from the structure of the solar system to the origin of man. The result has been constant turmoil for many centuries, and the turmoil will continue as long as religious canons prejudge scientific questions. — George Gaylord Simpson

To put it crudely but graphically, the monkey who did not have a realistic perception of the tree branch he jumped for was soon a dead monkey-and therefore did not become one of our ancestors. — George Gaylord Simpson

If a sect does officially insist that its structure of belief demands that evolution be false, then no compromise is possible. An honest and competent biology teacher can only conclude that the sect's beliefs are wrong and that its religion is a false one. — George Gaylord Simpson

Teddy Roosevelt of course was a great outdoorsman all his life. — Gaylord Nelson

I don't want to be considered a gymnast anymore. — Mitch Gaylord

The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round. — Gaylord Perry

Going back down to the minors is the toughest thing to handle in baseball. — Gaylord Perry

He pulled his nose out of her cleavage and turned to me. "Gaylord Brown," he said. "It's the perfect name because I'm gay and I'm brown. — Janet Evanovich

Man is a glorious and unique species of animal. The species originated by evolution.... Future evolution could raise man to superb heights as yet hardly glimpsed, but it will not automatically do so. As far as can now be foreseen, evolutionary degeneration is at least as likely in our future as is further progress.The only way to ensure a progressive evolutionary future for mankind is for man himself to take a hand in the process. Although much further knowledge is needed, it is unquestionably possible for man to guide his own evolution (within limits) along desirable lines. But the great weight of the most widespread...beliefs and institutions is against even attempting such guidance. ["Man's evolutionary future," 1960, p. 134.] — George Gaylord Simpson

Greaseball, greaseball, greaseball, that's all I throw him (Rod Carew), and he still hits them. He's the only player in baseball who consistently hits my grease. He sees the ball so well, I guess he can pick out the dry side. — Gaylord Perry

The search for historical laws is, I maintain, mistaken in principle. — George Gaylord Simpson

Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures. — Gaylord Nelson

You hit one level of the sport, and then you want to get to the next level. Until, eventually, the Olympics becomes part of that dream, part of that goal set and the mindset of wanting to get there. And then you realize there's so much incredible hard work and determination and effort that you need to put in along the way. — Mitch Gaylord

The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity ... that's all there is. That's the whole economy. That's where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world. — Gaylord Nelson

A team championship doesn't happen because three people score 10s, it happens because all the guys score well. In my opinion, everyone deserved 10s, we're all 10s on this team. — Mitch Gaylord

The month of April 2000 will provide an unprecedented showcase for the clean energy options available to individuals, businesses and the government, .. As tens of millions of people take action to support clean energy during Earth Month, the 'New Energy for a New Era' campaign will catapult us toward a clean and affordable energy future. — Gaylord Nelson

In the state of Wisconsin it's mandated that teachers in the social sciences and hard sciences have to start giving environmental education by the first grade, through high school. — Gaylord Nelson

I don't know where to put whales. I'm sticking them here, but I don't have any reason for it. — George Gaylord Simpson

It's funny how many ways there are to hurt people. As many ways to hurt as there are species of flower. Whole bouquets of hurt. — Joshua Gaylord

The science of systematics has long been affected by profound philosophical preconceptions, which have been all the more influential for being usually covert, even subconscious. — George Gaylord Simpson

I am confident that partnering my Dollywood Company with a great company like Gaylord will create something truly special. — Dolly Parton

The camera doesn't intimidate me. — Mitch Gaylord

I have a debt, a loyalty to the museum; the best place for me to do what I wanted to do. — George Gaylord Simpson

Celebrity was fun, and I had a good time. — Mitch Gaylord

It was truly an astonishing grassroots explosion, ... The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy. — Gaylord Nelson

The most important environmental issue is one that is rarely mentioned, and that is the lack of a conservation ethic in our culture. — Gaylord Nelson

Man stands alone in the universe, a unique product of a long, unconscious, impersonal, material process with unique understanding and potentialities. These he owes to no one but himself, and it is to himself that he is responsible. He is not the creature of uncontrollable and undeterminable forces, but is his own master. He can and must decide and manage his own destiny. — George Gaylord Simpson

As far as I know, most organizations are avoiding population issues because they're politically frightened by the charge that comes from some proponents of immigration that if you oppose the immigration policy we have now, you're a racist.. There is no way in the world we can forge a sustainable society without stabilizing the population ... There's no practical way of stabilizing the population of the U.S. without reducing the immigration rate. When do we decide we have to do something, or do we wait until things are as bad here as they are in the countries people want to leave? — Gaylord Nelson

I think the internal combustion engine will disappear from the streets of our cities in the next thirty years because transportation will be mass transportation, or probably electrical power. — Gaylord Nelson

The issues are by some geometric number - 100 or 200 or 500 - times more complicated today than we appreciated them to be when Franklin Roosevelt was around. — Gaylord Nelson

Rather than simply being subject to them, I had wanted to know what it felt like to be one of the forces in this world. — Joshua Gaylord

Sometimes you hide away a memory because it is so precious that you don't want to dilute it with the attempt to recount it. — Joshua Gaylord

Man has risen, not fallen. He can choose to develop his capacities as the highest animal and to try to rise still farther, or he can choose otherwise. The choice is his responsibility, and his alone. There is no automatism that will carry him upward without choice or effort and there is no trend solely in the right direction. Evolution has no purpose; man must supply this for himself. The means to gaining right ends involve both organic evolution and human evolution, but human choice as to what are the right ends must be based on human evolution. — George Gaylord Simpson

I don't like condo life. — Mitch Gaylord

Reaching a general understanding that sustainability is the ultimate issue will finally bring us face-to-face with the political challenge of forging a sustainable society during the next few decades. It is a challenge we can meet if we have the leadership and the political will to do so. — Gaylord Nelson

There'll be a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run. — Alvin Dark

If I didn't fear I'd do you harm...I'd try to make you an atheist. I really do think that you are a deluded follower of mistaken and superstitious and cowardly theories. That's as far as I'll go....Everyone who worships a god worships a force back of all nature, no matter what they call him or it and even if they call his aspects by different names & have many "gods." If there really is such a force, then all people who worship any god or gods, worship the same god. I'd just as soon call him Ishtar or Baal or Jehovah. They're merely names for the same idea. (Letter from Simpson to Anne Roe, written ca. 1920-21, when Anne was briefly flirting with fundamentalist Christianity, American Philosophical Society archives.) — George Gaylord Simpson

I have to feel good about what I'm endorsing because I have to live with it. — Mitch Gaylord

The argument from absence of transitional types boils down to the striking fact that such types are always lacking unless they have been found. — George Gaylord Simpson

A rill in a barnyard and the Grand Canyon represent, in the main, stages of valley erosion that began some millions of years apart. — George Gaylord Simpson

It is now firmly established that ontogeny does not repeat phylogeny — George Gaylord Simpson

Sometimes we are mysteries to ourselves. — Joshua Gaylord

I am empty space, and I am the light that illuminates that space. — Joshua Gaylord

The bigger the population gets, the more serious the problems become ... We have to address the population issue. The United Nations, with the U.S. supporting it, took the position in Cairo in 1994 that every country was responsible for stabilizing its own population. It can be done. But in this country, it's phony to say 'I'm for the environment but not for limiting immigration.' — Gaylord Nelson

Loads of chemicals and hazardous wastes have been introduced into the atmosphere that didn't even exist in 1948. The environmental condition of the planet is far worse than it was 42 years ago. — Gaylord Nelson