Human Behavior Quotes - Page 4

• There's never been a rule of human behavior that hasn't been broken by someone, somewhere, sometime, in some circumstance mundane or spectacular. To be human is to transcend the rules.

  Ian McDonald

  Broken, Behavior, Circumstances

  Ian McDonald (2007). “River of Gods”, Pyr Books

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• Many writers claim that nearly all crime is caused by economic conditions, or in other words that poverty is practically the whole cause of crime. Endless statistics have been gathered on this subject which seem to show conclusively that property crimes are largely the result of the unequal distribution of wealth. But crime of any class cannot be safely ascribed to a single cause. Life is too complex, heredity is too variant and imperfect, too many separate things contribute to human behavior, to make it possible to trace all actions to a single cause.

  Clarence Darrow

  Class, Poverty, Causes

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• Zoocentrism is the primary fallacy of human sociobiology, for this view of human behavior rests on the argument that if the actions of "lower" animals with simple nervous systems arise as genetic products of natural selection, then human behavior should have a similar basis.

  Stephen Jay Gould

  Animal, Simple, Views

  "Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes". Book by Stephen Jay Gould. "Our Natural Place", p. 243, 1983.

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• It's a required part of your film history to know who Woody is. His movies are so wonderful, and not just funny but so insightful about human behavior.

  Scarlett Johansson

  Movie, Film History, Insightful

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• The world that seemed so various and new, well, it does contract. One's burning desire to investigate human behavior, and to make, or imply, statements about it, does fall off. And so one does find that early works are full of energy and also full of vulgarity, crudity, and incompetence, and later works are more carefully finished, and in that sense better literary products. But . . . there's often a freshness that is missing in later works--for every gain there's a loss. I think it evens out in that way.

  Kingsley Amis

  Fall, Loss, Thinking

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• We can't just have mainstream behavior on television in a free society, we have to make sure we see the whole panorama of human behavior.

  Jerry Springer

  Mainstream Society, Television, Behavior

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• As a novelist, I'm endlessly fascinated by human behavior and interactions.

  Juliet Marillier

  Novelists, Behavior, Interaction

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• I would say that introverts make some of the best international philosophers. The less common attribute of the introverted lifestyle - a close societal connection, as such a connection disappears or changes in relevance as the currents of the winds change - leaves too much room for one's own cultural bias. Instead, introverts tend to turn inward, the laboratory of being and all its forms. This is the most accurate study of the individual human being, which is in turn, rather than those affected by cultural limitations, the most universal reflection of human understanding and human behavior.

  Criss Jami

  Reflection, Wind, Understanding

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• Two things in America are astonishing: the changeableness of most human behavior and the strange stability of certain principles. Men are constantly on the move, but the spirit of humanity seems almost unmoved.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  Moving, Men, Two

  Alexis de Tocqueville (2003). “Democracy in America”, p.708, Regnery Publishing

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• The fact is, as actors, everything we do, bad or good, is a contribution. To me, it is a positive thing to give people as wide a range of human behavior with some sense of understanding of that behavior or some clue to it.

  Grace Zabriskie

  People, Giving, Understanding

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• Hot, dry katabatic winds, like the south foehn in Europe, the sharav in the Middle East, and the Santa Ana of Southern California, are all believed to have a decided effect on human behavior and are associated with such health problems as migraines, depression, lethargy, and moodiness. Some scientists say that this is a myth.

  Tim Cahill

  California, Europe, Wind

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• Each person is a unique individual. Hence, psychotherapy should be formulated to meet the uniqueness of the individual's needs, rather than tailoring the person to fit the Procrustean bed of a hypothetical theory of human behavior.

  Milton H. Erickson

  Unique, Bed, Needs

  Milton H. Erickson, Jeffrey K. Zeig, Brent B. Geary (2000). “The Letters of Milton H. Erickson”, p.17, Zeig Tucker & Theisen Publishers

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• One of my favorite patterns is the tendency for the markets to move from relative lows to relative highs and vice versa every two to four days. This pattern is a function of human behavior. It takes several days of a market rallying before it looks really good. That’s when everyone wants to buy it, and that’s the time when the professionals, like myself, are selling. Conversely, when the market has been down for a few days, and everyone is bearish, that’s the time I like to be buying.

  Jack D. Schwager

  Moving, Two, Vices

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• I've had only one idea in my life - a true idee fixe. To put it as bluntly as possible - the idea of having my own way. 'Control!' expresses it. The control of human behavior. In my early experimental days it was a frenzied, selfish desire to dominate. I remember the rage I used to feel when a prediction went awry. I could have shouted at the subjects of my experiments, 'Behave, damn you! Behave as you ought!

  B. F. Skinner

  Selfish, Damn You, Ideas

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• They're so attached to their patterns that they've forgotten rule number one of human behavior: there are no patterns. People just do things. There's no such things as a coherent and fully integrated human personality, let alone consistent motivation.

  Sebastian Faulks

  Motivation, Numbers, People

  Sebastian Faulks (2007). “Engleby: A Novel”, Doubleday Books

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• A lot of the demonstrations that I do, when I get inside peoples minds, is understanding human behavior and understanding how people think and getting their patterns down so I know how to create the illusion that I get inside their brain.

  Criss Angel

  Thinking, People, Understanding

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• This script was just so much smarter than usual and I'm just fascinated by human behavior.

  Angelina Jolie

  Usual, Scripts, Behavior

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• Human behavior is so intriguing. I find myself giving thumbs up signs all the time. I know I look like an absolute dork, but I do it anyway.

  Anne Heche

  Thumbs Up, Giving, Humanity

  Anne Heche (2001). “Call Me Crazy”, p.26, Simon and Schuster

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• A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.

  Robert Cialdini

  Successful, People, Principles

  Robert B. Cialdini (1988). “Influence: science and practice”, Pearson Scott Foresman

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• I guess I'm just quite observant and I pay attention to a lot of things. Human behavior really fascinates me.

  Ellie Goulding

  Attention, Pay, Behavior

  "Artist to Know: Ellie Goulding". Seventeen Interview, www.seventeen.com. April 6, 2011.

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• The vexing thing about human behavior is that when we say we know we should do something, we really and truly do know it. It's hard to be 50 lbs. overweight or smoke a pack a day or feel miserable every moment you spend at work and not understand in a deep and primal way that change is in order - and that in some cases it could even save your life.

  Jeffrey Kluger

  Order, Way, Miserable

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• The contradictions are what make human behavior so maddening and yet so fascinating, all at the same time.

  Joan D. Vinge

  Behavior, Contradiction, Humans

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• Time perspective is one of the most powerful influences on all of human behavior. We're trying to show how people become biased to being exclusively past-, present- or future-oriented.

  Philip Zimbardo

  Time, Powerful, Past

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• Well, what is acting but the study of human behavior? And that's so fascinating to me.

  Amy Smart

  Acting, Study, Behavior

  Interview with Sabbott, www.ign.com. August 26, 2001.

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• Love is a way of seeing and a way of being that honors God in everyone we meet. And it changes us in the most fundamental way. All we need to do is welcome the challenge of our relationships, training our eyes to look beyond human behavior to the Presence within. When we seek to live love, we discover through our interactions with others the divinity within ourselves.

  Susan L. Taylor

  Love, Eye, Interaction With Others

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