“Knowledge is growing exponentially; knowledge needed to fend off our problems is growing faster than the problems.” — Steven Pinker · Enlightenment Now, 2018
“The decline of violence may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species.” — Steven Pinker · The Better Angels of Our Nature, 2011
“As the world has gotten more rational, it has gotten less cruel.” — Steven Pinker · The Better Angels of Our Nature, 2011
“Bad things can happen quickly, but good things aren't built in a day, and as they unfold, they will be out of sync with the news cycle.” — Steven Pinker · Enlightenment Now, 2018
“We will never have a perfect world, and it would be dangerous to seek one. But there is no limit to the betterments we can attain if we continue to apply knowledge to enhance human flourishing.” — Steven Pinker · Enlightenment Now, 2018
“Intellectuals hate progress. Intellectuals who call themselves progressive really hate progress.” — Steven Pinker · Enlightenment Now, 2018