B. F. Skinner Quotes - Page 4

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If the world is to save any part of its resources for the future, it must reduce not only consumption but the number of consumers.

B. F. Skinner

Numbers, Balance, Population

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.11, Hackett Publishing

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Going out of style isn't a natural process, but a manipulated change which destroys the beauty of last year's dress in order to make it worthless.

B. F. Skinner

Order, Years, Style

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.28, Hackett Publishing

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A scientist may not be sure of the answer, but he's often sure he can find one. And that's a condition which is clearly not enjoyed by philosophy.

B. F. Skinner

Philosophy, Answers, May

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.120, Hackett Publishing

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Society already possesses the psychological techniques needed to obtain universal observance of a code - a code which would guarantee the success of a community or state. The difficulty is that these techniques are in the hands of the wrong people-or, rather, there aren't any right people.

B. F. Skinner

Hands, People, Community

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.153, Hackett Publishing

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Problem-solving typically involves the construction of discriminative stimuli

B. F. Skinner

Problem, Construction, Problem Solving

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I may say that the only differences I expect to see revealed between the behavior of the rat and man (aside from enormous differences of complexity) lie in the field of verbal behavior.

B. F. Skinner

Lying, Men, Differences

B. F. Skinner (1990). “The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis”, p.466, B. F. Skinner Foundation

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Any single historical event is too complex to be adequately known by anyone. It transcends all the intellectual capacities of men. Our practice is to wait until a sufficient number of details have been forgotten. Of course things seem simpler then! Our memories work that way; we retain the facts which are easiest to think about.

B. F. Skinner

Memories, Men, Thinking

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Death does not trouble me. I have no fear of supernatural punishments, of course, nor could I enjoy an eternal life in which there would be nothing left for me to do, the task of living having been accomplished.

B. F. Skinner

Education, Punishment, Doe

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A permissive government is a government that leaves control to other sources.

B. F. Skinner

Government, Source

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A piece of music is an experience to be taken by itself.

B. F. Skinner

Taken, Pieces, Music Is

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.78, Hackett Publishing

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In a world of complete economic equality, you get and keep the affections you deserve. You can't buy love with gifts or favors, you can't hold love by raising an inadequate child, and you can't be secure in love by serving as a good scrub woman or a good provider.

B. F. Skinner

Children, Deserve You, World

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.137, Hackett Publishing

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In the world at large we seldom vote for a principle or a given state of affairs. We vote for a man who pretends to believe in that principle or promises to achieve that state. We don't want a man, we want a condition of peace and plenty-- or, it may be, war and want-- but we must vote for a man.

B. F. Skinner

War, Believe, Men

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.221, Hackett Publishing

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The severest trial of oppression is the constant outrage which one suffers at the thought of the oppressor. What Jesus discovered was how to avoid the inner devastations. His technique was to practice the opposite emotion... a man may not get his freedom or possessions back, but he's less miserable. It's a difficult lesson.

B. F. Skinner

Jesus, Men, Opposites

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The alphabet was a great invention, which enabled men to store and to learn with little effort what others had learned the hard way-that is, to learn from books rather than from direct, possibly painful, contact with the real world.

B. F. Skinner

Real, Book, Men

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Fame is also won at the expense of others. Even the well-deserved honors of the scientist or man of learning are unfair to many persons of equal achievements who get none. When one man gets a place in the sun, the others are put in a denser shade. From the point of view of the whole group there's no gain whatsoever, and perhaps a loss.

B. F. Skinner

Loss, Men, Views

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.156, Hackett Publishing

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Except when physically restrained, a person is least free or dignified when he is under threat of punishment, and unfortunately most people often are.

B. F. Skinner

Punishment, People, Threat

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A child who has been severely punished for sex play is not necessarily less inclined to continue; and a man who has been imprisoned for violent assault is not necessarily less inclined toward violence.

B. F. Skinner

Sex, Children, Men

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A culture must be reasonably stable, but it must also change, and it will presumably be strongest if it can avoid excessive respect for tradition and fear of novelty on the one hand and excessively rapid change on the other.

B. F. Skinner

Hands, Culture, Novelty

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Each of us has interests which conflict the interests of everybody else... 'everybody else' we call 'society'. It's a powerful opponent and it always wins. Oh, here and there an individual prevails for a while and gets what he wants. Sometimes he storms the culture of a society and changes it to his own advantage. But society wins in the long run, for it has the advantage of numbers and of age.

B. F. Skinner

Running, Powerful, Winning

B. F. Skinner (1974). “Walden Two”, p.95, Hackett Publishing

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The speaker does not feel the grammatical rules he is said to apply in composing sentences, and men spoke grammatically for thousands of years before anyone knew there were rules.

B. F. Skinner

Men, Years, Doe

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To require a citizen to sign a loyalty oath is to destroy some of the loyalty he could otherwise claim, since any subsequent loyal behavior may then be attributed to the oath.

B. F. Skinner

Loyalty, Citizens, May

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Those who have had anything useful to say have said it far too often, and those who have had nothing to say have been no more reticent.

B. F. Skinner

Said, Has Beens

B. F. Skinner (2015). “Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition”, p.309, B. F. Skinner Foundation

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A vast technology has been developed to prevent, reduce, or terminate exhausting labor and physical damage. It is now dedicated to the production of the most trivial conveniences and comfort.

B. F. Skinner

Science, Technology, Dedication

"Reflections on Behaviorism and Society". Book by B. F. Skinner, 1978.

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The simulated approval and affection with which parents and teachers are often urged to solve behavior problems are counterfeit. So are flattery, backslap-ping, and many other ways of "winning friends.

B. F. Skinner

Teacher, Winning, Parent

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The evolution of cultures appears to follow the pattern of the evolution of species. The many different forms of culture which arise correspond to the "mutations" of genetic theory. Some forms prove to be effective under prevailing circumstances and others not, and the perpetuation of the culture is determined accordingly.

B. F. Skinner

Different, Mutation, Culture

B.F Skinner (2012). “Science And Human Behavior”, p.434, Simon and Schuster

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Born: March 20, 1904
Died: August 18, 1990
Occupation: Psychologist
Cite this Page: Citation

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