If freedom is a requisite for human happiness, then all that’s necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.
B. F. SKINNER
B. F. SKINNER
B. F. Skinner on freedom
B. F. Skinner107 quotes“If freedom is a requisite for human happiness, then all that’s necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.”
More from B. F. Skinner
At this very moment enormous numbers of intelligent men and women of goodwill are trying to build a better world. But problems are born faster than they can be solved.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner At this very moment enormous numbers of intelligent men and women of goodwill are trying to build a better world. But problems are born faster than they can be solved.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner 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. SkinnerB. F. Skinner 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. SkinnerB. F. Skinner We admire people to the extent that we cannot explain what they do, and the word ‘admire’ then means ‘marvel at.’
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner A person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Your liberals and radicals all want to govern. They want to try it their way- to show that people will be happier if the power is wielded in a different way or for different purposes. But how do they know? Have they ever tried it? No, it’s merely their guess.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner That’s all teaching is; arranging contingencies which bring changes in behavior.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Let men be happy, informed, skillful, well behaved, and productive.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner What is love except another name for the use of positive reinforcement? Or vice versa.
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner Does a poet create, originate, initiate the thing called a poem, or is his behavior merely the product of his genetic and environmental histories?
B. F. SkinnerB. F. Skinner 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. SkinnerB. F. Skinner 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. SkinnerB. F. Skinner
Original quotes
From our community writers
I managed to cut myself loose and while there was pain – there weren’t any blood.
Jenny WinbladhJenny Winbladh Free will exist only in a confused mind.
Frode GaslandFrode Gasland If you are true to yourself, you are already a winner.
Alex DanielAlex Daniel You deserve words that remind you of your value.
Saif Ali ManganSaif Ali Mangan Do always wonder about your worth and remind yourself that even roses have their own thorns.
Megan LaoMegan Lao I’m like sugar in the coffee. Stir me and I’ll dissolve into you.
BelaBela Plans have changed. Life looks different. & now we’re all figuring it out as we go.
Tanya GillTanya Gill Be loyal to those loyal to you.
Sonya TeclaiSonya Teclai
Meet the writers
More on freedom
The political core of any movement for freedom in the society has to have the political imperative to protect free speech.
Bell HooksBell Hooks The idea of freedom is inspiring. But what does it mean? If you are free in a political sense but have no food, what’s that? The freedom to starve?
Angela DavisAngela Davis Freedom is absolutely necessary for the progress in science and the liberal arts.
Baruch SpinozaBaruch Spinoza No prison can ever contain me.
Lesha VergnolLesha Vergnol No prison can ever contain me.
Lesha VergnolLesha Vergnol A loving relationship is one in which the loved one is free to be himself – to laugh with me, but never at me; to cry with me, but never because of me; to love life, to love himself, to love being loved. Such a relationship is based upon freedom and can never grow in a jealous heart.
Leo BuscagliaLeo Buscaglia Feel free to love anything but not everything.
Thomas DavisThomas Davis You always have an opportunity to see the past for what it is, and live freely in today.
Lisa ArcherLisa Archer
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