Do not intervene between a person and the consequences of their own behavior.
B. F. SKINNERWhen we say that a man controls himself, we must specify who is controlling whom.
More B. F. Skinner Quotes
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The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
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The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.
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That’s all teaching is; arranging contingencies which bring changes in behavior.
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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.
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No one asks how to motivate a baby. A baby naturally explores everything it can get at, unless restraining forces have already been at work. And this tendency doesn’t die out, it’s wiped out.
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We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.
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A permissive government is a government that leaves control to other sources.
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Give me a child and I’ll shape him into anything.
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Chaos breeds geniuses. It offers a man something to be a genius about.
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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.
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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.
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We admire people to the extent that we cannot explain what they do, and the word ‘admire’ then means ‘marvel at.’
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Something doing every minute’ may be a gesture of despair-or the height of a battle against boredom.
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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.
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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.
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