Instinct

Famous quotes containing the word instinct:

“All our progress is an unfolding, like the vegetable bud. You first have an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud, and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. It is vain to hurry it. By trusting it to the end, it shall ripen into truth, and you shall know why you believe.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“To live is like to love—all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)

“If you are a new mother or about to become one, has anyone told you that much parenting is a learned behavior, not—as we have been led to believe—all instinct and motherwit.”
—Sally Placksin (20th century)