[Ads-l] Quote: human craving for aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual . . . satisfaction

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Recently, I was told about a webpage mentioning the following
quotation tracing task:

[Begin excerpt]
. . . a scholar trying to verify a quote attributed to Edward O.
Wilson: "Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual,
cognitive, and even spiritual satisfaction."
[End excerpt]

A researcher who was helping the scholar, discovered a lead which
pointed to the 1984 book "Biophilia" by E. O. Wilson, but the
quotation was absent. E. O. Wilson was contacted and asked about the
quotation, but he was "unsure of its origins". The researcher explored
other avenues, but the status of the quotation remained unresolved.

I hypothesize that the quotation was derived from a passage in the
book "The Biophilia Hypothesis", a 1993 collection of pieces edited by
Stephen R. Kellert and E. O. Wilson. The passage occurred in the
introduction which was written by Kellert.

Date: 1993 Copyright
Book Title: The Biophilia Hypothesis
Editors: Stephen R. Kellert and Edward O. Wilson
Section: Introduction by Stephen R. Kellert
Quote Page 20
Database: Google Books Preview

[Begin excerpt]
The biophilia hypothesis proclaims a human dependence on nature that
extends far beyond the simple issues of material and physical
sustenance to encompass as well the human craving for aesthetic,
intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual meaning and satisfaction.
[End excerpt]

The passage above was compressed and rephrased to yield the statement
under examination. The phrase "aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and
even spiritual" was preserved exactly.

Garson

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