So no, it's not all in the genes, but what isn't in the genes isn't in the family environment either. It can't be explained in terms of the overall personalities or the child-rearing practices of parents.
Steven Pinker
Related My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Epigenetics doesn't change the genetic code, it changes how that's read. Perfectly normal ge... BRUCE LIPTON A person's health isn't generally a reflection of genes, but how their environment is influe... BRUCE LIPTON Are you taking us to the beach?" - Dan Cahill JUDE WATSON Let's head out to the ruins." - Dan Cahill ROLAND SMITH It looks ancient," - Amy Cahill JUDE WATSON What counts isn't the frame, it's what you put in it. OTTO PREMINGER The answer isn't more time but a greater awareness of the time we have. CRAIG GROESCHEL As long as you're in an environment where the worth of the project isn't based on the projec... AVA DUVERNAY It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and wa... DAN QUAYLE I know the world isn't fair, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favor? BILL WATTERSON Frankly, it's depressing, each night sleeping in someone else's home. I miss having a roof t... ROSECRANS BALDWIN I think literary theory has not been terribly good for English studies in a while. It's not that... A. S. BYATT It SMELLS ancient," - Dan Cahill JUDE WATSON Palm trees were fanned by a warm, light breeze, and they rolled down their windows to smell the sea. JUDE WATSON The brain is highly structured, but it is also extremely flexible. It's not a blank slate, but i... ALISON GOPNIK She was intimidating and all I could do was sit back on the couch as she paced back and forth, slowl... IN THE MAKING We take what's shown on television as the truth, and it isn't. News isn't even the truth... VAL KILMER What do you mean you don't believe in homosexuality? It's not like the Easter Bunny, your be... LEA DELARIA I can't think of anyone I admire who isn't fuelled by self-doubt. It's an essential ingr... RICHARD EYRE Plastic surgery can't make you younger or more beautiful, because beauty is in your eyes, isn... SARAH PARISH Josephine caught my eye and gave me a signal we'd used for years to indicate that one of us had to l... LEMONY SNICKET There really isn't a story that you can't tell inside of it. It's very much a clearingho... AARON SORKIN Gamer humor ranges all over the place. What it comes down to is taking a lot of what we see in gamin... FREDDIE WONG I look at him and realize, maybe I overreacted. Maybe more than once. LISA SCHROEDER It's often meaningless to talk about a genetic trait without also discussing the environment in ... SAM KEAN There isn't anything in the world that can't be made better. JACK VALENTI It's always the music first for me. But if the music isn't selling, there isn't gonna be... AKON We don't really go in for big family dinners, but Scottish people are famously confrontational. ... DENISE MINA That's like making fun of a maniac because his brain isn't completely right, because he isn&... ALICE COOPER This isn't the time for bravado, Mr. Orsini,' he said. Brentford couldn't help himself. '... JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VALTAT I certainly don't want a child of mine to be famous, or anyone I was very close to who isn't... ELIZABETH HURLEY 'In Search of Excellence' - even the title - is a reminder that business isn't dry, drea... TOM PETERS North Hollywood isn't actually Hollywood, it's in the San Fernando Valley... it's not th... ELIZABETH MCGOVERN This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic. TERRY PRATCHETT In the eyes of many people, giving doesn't count unless it's completely selfless. In reality... ADAM GRANT You can only do your best. That's all you can do. And if it isn't good enough, it isn't ... IMELDA STAUNTON Love is agony, isn't it? I've been involved with someone for some time now, but it's all... DAPHNE GUINNESS The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't even that Johnny can't t... THOMAS SOWELL When I came out, I found I hadn't been born with the right genes. It's quite brutal. If you&... JOHN GRANT What's important at the grocery store is just as important in engines or medical systems. If the... JACK WELCH There's ageism in everything. I don't give a hoot. It isn't what other people think; it&... CYNDI LAUPER Ringo isn't the best drummer in the world. He isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles. JASPER CARROTT At my core, the glass isn't half-empty - it's not even what I ordered in the first place. CATHERINE TATE Life isn't fair, and it isn't government's job to make life fair. But if you're not ... TAMMY DUCKWORTH I have one friend that I've had since I was born, and she's from Coatzacoalcos. She's no... SALMA HAYEK I'd rather say no and have said no and do say no often. I walk away from projects if it doesn... BLAIR UNDERWOOD What I miss most about Mexico isn't the food or the customs; it's my family and the way we... JAVIER HERNANDEZ I can't see potato chips being popular where there's not land to grow potatoes in or where f... ANN LECKIE The system isn't stupid, but the people in it are. THOMAS SZASZ Let's use some codes every word which isn't there or sound some kind non-sense, let's put it a code ... DEYTH BANGER I'm not afraid of death. What's to fear? Once you're dead, that's it. Nothing. I don... PATRICK MACNEE It's absolutely of no importance who or what V was under the mask. He isn't a who or a what,... DAVID LLOYD I haven't experienced college life. It's the phase that my character in 'Raanjhana' ... DHANUSH It's all make believe, isn't it? MARILYN MONROE Forty minutes in front of Beck isn't really where it's at. GENE WEEN On the evidence I have on hand at home, social media isn't killing our children. It isn't ki... WARREN ELLIS Steven Tyler isn't in Aerosmith anymore, but his gravestone will probably say something about Ae... PATRICK STUMP Well, isn't every successful person in every family the bankbook? LOUIE ANDERSON The only place I considered home was the boarding school in Yorkshire my parents sent me to. It'... JOE STRUMMER No two people on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music. BILLIE HOLIDAY Boldness isn't something you're born with; you either choose it or you don't. MIKE YACONELLI It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe. ROBERT W. SERVICE Doing what's right isn't the problem. It is knowing what's right. LYNDON B. JOHNSON I think jazz guitar isn't very ladylike in general. Not that it shouldn't be. MARY HALVORSON When you grow up there are things that you would love to do make your father proud is one and have f... GARY F EVANS... Negotiating isn't about getting what you want or giving in to what the other party wants. It'... JOHN RAMPTON Nature isn't positive in that way. It doesn't aim itself at you. It's not being unkind t... DAVID ATTENBOROUGH We haven't been able yet to determine in terms of genes what makes a human being a human and not... WALTER GILBERT The photograph isn't good enough. It's not real enough. DAVID HOCKNEY Isn't it fun to be nuts? Isn't it fun to be crazy? ADAM WEST Confidence isn't optimism or pessimism, and it's not a character attribute. It's the exp... ROSABETH MOSS KANTER It's so important just to be true to yourself and to own your own character and take responsibil... BECKY LYNCH It's hard to prove yourself when the substance isn't there in certain roles. TRAVIS FIMMEL Meditation isn't snake oil. For some people, meditation might be the most efficient way to reduc... ADAM GRANT When the peace treaty is signed, the war isn't over for the veterans, or the family. It's ju... KARL MARLANTES A lot of reality shows tend to harp on the negative. The person isn't pretty enough or can't... BRUCE NASH Privacy isn't negotiable. It's the right of every American. JACKIE SPEIER So all the rest is O.K., but fame is a hollow ground, isn't it? It's an empty kind of thing. RICHARD O'BRIEN Isn't it ironic that a nightmare can masquerade as a dream? KEN POIROT Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the ... ZIG ZIGLAR To be able to look life in the face: that's worth living in a garret for, isn't it? EDITH WHARTON But I think you have to - whatever the environment looks like, it does enter into people's art w... DONALD JUDD But above and beyond there's still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will... T.S. ELIOT Divorce isn't the child's fault. Don't say anything unkind about your ex to the child, b... VALERIE BERTINELLI It's so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn't it? LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relev... YVES BEHAR There used to be a time - it isn't so much the case now - that vegetarianism was some kind of re... YOTAM OTTOLENGHI In general, the apparel industry isn't about continual process improvement or making the perfect... TADASHI YANAI There's almost no author alive who isn't weathering the tumultuous changes in the publishing... M. J. ROSE Yes, the United States is still the great meritocracy it's always been; but now, if you aren'... ELIZABETH WURTZEL The new age of terrorism isn't on the battlefield: it's in your own backyard. Whether it'... BILL GOLDBERG Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. VINCE LOMBARDI The elite isn't leading anymore. It's trapped. DAVID FRUM The environment is everything that isn't me. ALBERT EINSTEIN The 'science' in 'science fiction' isn't just physics and engineering. It can al... ANN LECKIE That isn't writing at all, it's typing. TRUMAN CAPOTE I don't have an office. I sit in a cubicle with everybody else. That's partly so no one can ... KEVIN P. RYAN When people ask what 'American Pie' is about, they're missing the point. The song isn... DON MCLEAN Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain... LEWIS CARROLL
More Steven Pinker
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STEVEN PRESSFIELD It is impossible to count the blessings I have received over my years at Microsoft. I am humbled by ... STEVEN SINOFSKY Courtney Love is a loose cannon. She says what she thinks. She's wild on the red carpet. You get... STEVEN COJOCARU Black Consciousness seeks to infuse the black community with a new-found pride in themselves, their ... STEVEN BIKO When I was on TV in the '80s, I wasn't thinking, 'There's a 10-year-old kid watching... STEVEN WRIGHT Thanks to decades of accumulated federal budget deficits and, more significantly, imprudent Medicare... STEVEN RATTNER I have an existential map; it has you are here written all over it. STEVEN WRIGHT Two babies were born on the same day at the same hospital. They lay there and looked at each other. ... STEVEN WRIGHT 'The Color Purple' is the kind of character piece that a director like Sidney Lumet could do... STEVEN SPIELBERG Warner Bros. has talked about going out with low-cost DVDs simultaneously in China because piracy is... STEVEN SODERBERGH I approached the bulk of my schoolwork as a chore rather than an intellectual adventure. STEVEN CHU Bloated budgets are ruining Hollywood - these pictures are squeezing all the other types of movies o... STEVEN SPIELBERG The entertainment world, television, movies, social media, YouTube stuff, we're so bombarded wit... STEVEN BOCHCO I was born with this. It's a hereditary genetic condition. This is something you can go your who... STEVEN COJOCARU I think there is a way to be formal and elegant and classy, but more modern. Brad Pitt has been chan... STEVEN COJOCARU I mean, as long as it doesn't have a bra attached, guys can take a risk and wear stylish things ... STEVEN TYLER Two babies were born on the same day at the same hospital. They lay there and looked at each other. ... STEVEN WRIGHT If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you str... STEVEN WRIGHT A friend of mine once sent me a post card with a picture of the entire planet Earth taken from space... STEVEN WRIGHT