B.F. Skinner

The organism is not an empty organism, but an organism whose behavior is determined by its history of reinforcement.

The only way to understand human behavior is to understand the environment that shapes it.

The concept of 'mind' is a red herring.

We are what we have been reinforced for being.

The most important thing to remember about behavior is that it is always lawful.

A person's behavior is determined by his genetic endowment and by his past and present environments.

The ultimate goal of a science of behavior is to predict and control behavior.

We must look to the environment, not to some inner cause, for the explanation of behavior.

The only way to make men free is to control them.

The world is not a stage on which we play out our lives; it is a laboratory in which we are constantly being shaped.

The concept of 'mind' is a way of avoiding the real problem of understanding behavior.

The only way to achieve a better world is to design it.

We are not autonomous agents; we are products of our environment.

The most effective way to change behavior is to change the environment.

The concept of 'will' is a prescientific concept.

The only way to understand human nature is to understand the laws of behavior.

The environment selects behavior, and behavior in turn modifies the environment.

I am not a behaviorist because I believe in behaviorism. I am a behaviorist because I believe in behavior.

My work is not about controlling people. It's about understanding how behavior is controlled.

I have been called a rat psychologist. I prefer to think of myself as a human psychologist who happens to study rats.