Born on March 20, 1904, in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, U.S., Burrhus Frederic Skinner was one of the most remarkable psychologists. He developed the theory of operant conditioning, which worked as a significant influence for a better understanding of behaviour.
Skiller called himself to be a radical behaviourist.
This Harvard Graduate's most famous work was the development of the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner Box, which assisted in building his particular theory with the help of a rat.
While growing up, Skinner was an outgoing and fun-loving person. His theories have been marked in the history of psychology. The results made him feel buoyant as it was subjected the way he predicted it to be.
He got his first job as the chairman of the psychology department at Indiana University in 1945. But within a few years, he chose to change his platform and went to Harvard. He continued his research and wrote some magnificent books there.
He had also won people's heart with his books. He has written 21 books in total. His most famous work contains Walden Two and the book, which features the understanding of human behaviour Verbal Behaviour.
He was greatly influenced by Ivan Pavlov and by the work of John B. Watson, other great men who worked in psychology.
Skinner's excellence is playing a major role in psychology therapy processes like CBT.
Here are some of his well-said quotes that you might need today.
A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.
When you are walking up to the peak, there are times when you shake. You might even fall. But that doesn't mean that you have lost.
Failure is something that is as natural as a win. You must have the tendency to get up again.
Losing hope is the real problem here, not the failing.
Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless.
This society is clad in a façade. No one is really what they are trying to be. People hit on the wound of the helpless.
No one in this so-called community has your back. You must learn to rise above them.
Let them tell you all the dirt, but you just need to keep looking ahead.
I did not direct my life. I didn't design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me. That's what life is.
Life is shaped by itself. Things come your way, not by mistake, but with a gradual motive.
Sometimes it wipes you down, and then it holds you up. Every choice you made was planned for you.
You are solely devised to live.
Give me a child, and I will shape him in anything.
A child's personality is like an unmoulded clay. His brain is seeking thoughts and understanding of the world.
His surroundings and his upbringing converts him into the person he becomes. His experiences, the knowledge he gains, the things he hears and sees, and the community he is brought up in are responsible for his mindset. You can shape a child in any way by using the psychological medium.
Chaos breeds geniuses.
When a person is stuck in a muddle, how he performs builds him.
The choice he makes in times of adversity craves out the human in him. If he fights back with shivering power, he becomes a warrior.
Indeed, Chaos breeds geniuses.
Continue reading some more B. F. Skinner Quotes...
Men shape society and society shapes men.
This society is formed by the people that live in it. The most core of it is the mentality of the people residing there.
But simultaneously, a man's thought process is also designed by the community he lives in.
His personality is carved by the society.
It is not a question of starting. The start has been made. It's a question of what's to be done from now on.
We cannot change where we are coming from. We cannot change the initial pathway, but we can surely be responsible for our next step.
We can decide where we will go from now on. Our future is mended by the power we contain in us.
What Jesus offered in return of loving one's enemies was heaven on earth, better known as peace of mind.
A person with a calm mind never holds a grudge for what stands against him. A serene and soulful person holds only love to offer.
Skinner compares Jesus's giving of love (which was defined as heaven) to be nothing but a sign of a tranquil being.
When one man gets a place in the sun, the others are put in a denser shade.
No two person are blessed with a same gift. Their life goes to different paths. When one suffers, the other might be living his best. But times changes, and life changes with it.
So never compare what you go through with the person next to you. It will only disturb you.
Few more B. F. Skinner Quotes...
Freedom is an illusion, but a valuable one.
In this world, no one is truly free. Everyone has their own cage. Everyone is a slave to one or the other thing. Hence freedom is an illusion.
But at the same time, its presence in the minds have a very significant impact on the world. It gives people a way of being.
Teachers must learn to teach.
A good education can only be derived from a good teacher. Everyone has something they could give in terms of knowledge, but a teacher is that who gives it in a certain way.
Teaching is an art in itself, a lesser-known art.
But problems are born faster than they are solved.
Each of the problems in our life is just like a crossword puzzle. It takes less than a minute to be spread but hours to be solved.
It takes time to make your obstacles cease, but with your persistence, it does go away. Keep patience.
We shouldn't teach great books, we should teach the love of reading.
Making people read a good book will only put the morals of that particular book in their thoughts. But involving them in being an avid reader will make them more and more educated.
Reading will allow them to wander in the world of literacy and knowledge.
We are only just beginning to understand the power of love because we are just beginning to understand the weakness of force and aggression.
No matter how intimidating aggression stands to be, it never defeats the light of love.
When you surrender to violence, you gradually become weaker. And by then, you know what strength love owns.
This world could only be changed with love and kindness.
Some more B. F. Skinner Quotes...
When you run into something interesting, drop everything and study it.
A world-changing discovery is often disguised in an unusual thing.
Always be curious and scrutinize the core of anything that holds your eyes.
You never know what might turn out to become a remarkable history.
It is a surprising fact that those who object most violently to the manipulation of behaviour nevertheless make the most vigorous effort to manipulates minds.
Being a renowned psychologist, Skinner knows how deep a ferocious experience carves a mark on a person's mind.
Often this person builds a shell for himself and blunts into a violent being. A person's past is very important for his psychological being. Never judge how a person presents himself. You don't know what he has been through.
Rituals are superstitions.
This world came into existence from nothing. There are no pre-made paths that a person is validated to walk upon.
A permanent setting is nothing but a surreal belief. Choose what you want to choose. Don't let other's abstractions deflect you.
Behaviour is determined by its consequences.
Psychology says that a person sculpts his behaviour by perceiving what their steps might result in.
For a person seeking to be adored will mould his behaviour as such.
A person who doesn't want to be hurt will build a shield to repel everyone.
Some of us learn control more or less by accident.
We learn some traits when we are forced to the verge, where it becomes essential to inculcate.
Such is the habit of control. Sometimes we don't know the line which we must draw in different situations. We don't understand the ability to control. We learn it when the time comes.
The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread.
We feel a different kind of courage when we are motivated for a particular cause that the whole community stands for.
The power of community is undefeatable. When the beliefs of different individuals compact together, they are destined to bring a change.
