The theoretical fruits of deliberate oversimplification through idealization are not to be denied... Reality in all its messy particularity is too complicated to theorize about, taken straight. The issue is, rather (since every idealization is a strategic choice), which idealizations might really shed some light... which will just land us... diverting fairy tales.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) - ISBN: 9781439126295