John B. Watson

The greatest harm you can do to your child is to teach him that the world is a cruel place.

Behaviorism is the science of behavior that rejects introspection.

All behavior is learned; there is no instinct in man.

The mind is a function of the body, and behavior is the observable aspect of the mind.

We can predict and control human behavior as we do with animals.

Introspection forms no part of this new method.

The behaviorist is interested in what the organism does.

Emotions are nothing but patterns of responses to stimuli.

The only reliable data are those of overt behavior.

Psychology must be a wholly objective science.

There is no such thing as an instinct in human behavior.

The child should be taught to fear nothing but his own failure.

Love is an emotion that can be conditioned like any other response.

The behaviorist finds no place for the soul or for the mind as separate entities.

Every healthy child is a potential genius if properly trained.

Advertising is a science of manipulating human behavior.

The future of psychology lies in the laboratory, not in the armchair.

Habits are formed by repetition, and they control our lives.

There is no difference between human and animal learning.

The goal of education is to shape behavior through conditioning.