Search quotes

Link	Quote	Tags	Author
1d3273b	If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.	poetry music life	Charles Darwin
c966c5a	A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.	time science life inspirational dare value waste	Charles Darwin
23095a8	Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.	science open-mindedness willful-ignorance ignorance knowledge	Charles Darwin
8b0cbd1	Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beauti..	evolution nature wonder science inspirational biology grandeur	Charles Darwin
1f83763	If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.	poverty social-institutions society	Charles Darwin
a2cbbed	Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers... for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality... But I had gradually come by this time, i.e., 1836 to 1839, to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow at sign, &c., &c., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a r..	history doubt damnable divine-revelation sacred-books tyrant new-testament hindu orthodox old-testament charles-darwin interpretation doctrine hinduism autobiography skepticism miracles belief evidence metaphors resurrection punishment revelation atheism hell	Charles Darwin
20ea3eb	Blushing is the most peculiar and most human of all expressions.	humanity embarassment emotions	Charles Darwin
c89982d	It is not the strongest of the species that survives,		Charles Darwin
5d332f2	But I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice... I feel most deeply that t..	evolution profound science beneficence omnipotent biology tolerance design evidence misery isaac-newton newton	Charles Darwin
50d9dc8	One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.	evolution science natural-selection	Charles Darwin
8e04ea6	As man advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races.		Charles Darwin
aafdaed	With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilised men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has ..	planned-parenthood sterilisation sterilization population-control eugenics social-darwinism survival-of-the-fittest darwinism natural-selection	Charles Darwin
86e6964	We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universe, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to be created at once by special act.	universe science special superstition	Charles Darwin
757386d	Nothing is easier than to admit in words the truth of the universal struggle for life, or more difficult--at least I have found it so--than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind.	science	Charles Darwin
6d289d4	Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.		Charles Darwin
a5e0122	The following proposition seems to me in a high degree probable--namely, that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, the parental and filial affections being here included, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as well developed, as in man. For, firstly, the social instincts lead an animal to take pleasure in the society of its fellows,..	evolution sympathy morality science evolution-of-morality social intellect instincts	Charles Darwin
a51dc43	I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.		Charles Darwin
a701edb	If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find no such case.	evolution science macro-evolution macroevolution darwinism	Charles Darwin
1ae41c4	for the shield may be as important for victory, as the sword or spear.		Charles Darwin
3103cba	There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.	life	Charles Darwin
a37d216	But I am very poorly today & very stupid & I hate everybody & everything. One lives only to make blunders.	hate bad-mood	Charles Darwin
7eed6e7	To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.	reason truth error fact	Charles Darwin
2b55262	It is always advisable to perceive clearly our ignorance.	ignorance	Charles Darwin
7d09ba1	The loss of these tastes [for poetry and music] is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.	poetry music stimulation character-building taste emotions intellect	Charles Darwin
94148ce	We are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with truth as far as our reason permits us to discover it.	hopes reason truth	Charles Darwin
e9bd460	We will now discuss in a little more detail the Struggle for Existence.		Charles Darwin
0bc33a8	we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps		Charles Darwin
eef3156	At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break will then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state as we may hope, than the Caucasian and some ape as ..	racism negroes population-control racial-superiority negro darwinism	Charles Darwin
87e1879	For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs--as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no ..	evolution man slavery humanity sacrifice great-ape great-apes apes belief preference superstition humans torture	Charles Darwin
9234975	Nevertheless so profound is our ignorance, and so high our presumption, that we marvel when we hear of the extinction of an organic being; and as we do not see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate the world, or invent laws on the duration of the forms of life!	species natural-selection	Charles Darwin
0547565	But we are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with the truth as far as our reason allows us to discover it. I have given the evidence to the best of my ability; and we must acknowledge , as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his godlike intellect which has penetrated int..		Charles Darwin
be2439b	I think it inevitably follows, that as new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection, others will become rarer and rarer, and finally extinct. The forms which stand in closest competition with those undergoing modification and improvement will naturally suffer most.		Charles Darwin
ceeccbc	Origin of man now proved.--Metaphysics must flourish.--He who understands baboon would do more towards metaphysics than Locke.	evolution metaphysics	Charles Darwin
5583ee2	But Natural Selection, as we shall hereafter see, is a power incessantly ready for action, and is immeasurably superior to man's feeble efforts, as the works of Nature are to those of Art.		Charles Darwin
d8758a8	In conclusion, it appears that nothing can be more improving to a young naturalist, than a journey in distant countries.		Charles Darwin
9d9e0c6	Natural Selection almost inevitably causes much Extinction of the less improved forms of life and induces what I have called Divergence of Character.		Charles Darwin
0718307	It is often attempted to palliate slavery by comparing the state of slaves with our poorer countrymen: if the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin; but how this bears on slavery, I cannot see; as well might the use of the thumb-screw be defended in one land, by showing that men in another land suffered from some dreadful disease. Those who look tenderly at the slave owner, and wit..	race	Charles Darwin
71194de	But just in proportion as this process of extermination has acted on an enormous scale, so must the number of intermediate varieties, which have formerly existed, be truly enormous. Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the t..	evolution conclusion-before-evidence intermediate-forms missing-links fossils paleontology fossil-record macro-evolution macroevolution darwinism	Charles Darwin
4904222	To conclude, therefore, let no man out of a weak conceit of sobriety, or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God's word, or in the book of God's works; divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavour an endless progress or proficience in both."--Bacon: "Advancement of Learning"."		Charles Darwin
88dd9f2	Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind, none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by the hand of man; whether those of Brazil, where the powers of Life are predominant, or those of Tierra del Fuego, where Death and decay prevail. Both are temples filled with the varied productions of the God of Nature: -- no one can stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is more in man than the mere breath of..		Charles Darwin
3cf5ea1	As natural selection acts by competition, it adapts the inhabitants of each country only in relation to the degree of perfection of their associates; so that we need feel no surprise at the inhabitants of any one country, although on the ordinary view supposed to have been specially created and adapted for that country, being beaten and supplanted by the naturalised productions from another land.	evolution darwin	Charles Darwin
5617adb	When we no longer look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension; when we regard every production of nature as one which has had a history; when we contemplate every complex structure and instinct as the summing up of many contrivances, each useful to the possessor, nearly in the same way as when we look at any great mechanical invention as the summing up of the labour, the experience, ..	physicalism natural-history	Charles Darwin
ea3e16c	There are several other sources of enjoyment in a long voyage, which are of a more reasonable nature. The map of the world ceases to be a blank; it becomes a picture full of the most varied and animated figures. Each part assumes its proper dimensions: continents are not looked at in the light of islands, or islands considered as mere specks, which are, in truth, larger than many kingdoms of Europe. Africa, or North and South America, are w..	travel worldview	Charles Darwin
1d98c42	Englishmen rarely cry, except under the pressure of the acutest grief; whereas in some parts of the Continent the men shed tears much more readily and freely.	englishmen tears	Charles Darwin

1d3273b

If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.

poetry music life

Charles Darwin

c966c5a

A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.

time science life inspirational dare value waste

Charles Darwin

23095a8

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.

science open-mindedness willful-ignorance ignorance knowledge

Charles Darwin

8b0cbd1

Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beauti..

evolution nature wonder science inspirational biology grandeur

Charles Darwin

1f83763

If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.

poverty social-institutions society

Charles Darwin

a2cbbed

Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers... for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality... But I had gradually come by this time, i.e., 1836 to 1839, to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow at sign, &c., &c., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a r..

history doubt damnable divine-revelation sacred-books tyrant new-testament hindu orthodox old-testament charles-darwin interpretation doctrine hinduism autobiography skepticism miracles belief evidence metaphors resurrection punishment revelation atheism hell

Charles Darwin

20ea3eb

Blushing is the most peculiar and most human of all expressions.

humanity embarassment emotions

Charles Darwin

c89982d

It is not the strongest of the species that survives,

Charles Darwin

5d332f2

But I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice... I feel most deeply that t..

evolution profound science beneficence omnipotent biology tolerance design evidence misery isaac-newton newton

Charles Darwin

50d9dc8

One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.

evolution science natural-selection

Charles Darwin

8e04ea6

As man advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races.

Charles Darwin

aafdaed

With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilised men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has ..

planned-parenthood sterilisation sterilization population-control eugenics social-darwinism survival-of-the-fittest darwinism natural-selection

Charles Darwin

86e6964

We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universe, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to be created at once by special act.

universe science special superstition

Charles Darwin

757386d

Nothing is easier than to admit in words the truth of the universal struggle for life, or more difficult--at least I have found it so--than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind.

science

Charles Darwin

6d289d4

Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.

Charles Darwin

a5e0122

The following proposition seems to me in a high degree probable--namely, that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, the parental and filial affections being here included, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as well developed, as in man. For, firstly, the social instincts lead an animal to take pleasure in the society of its fellows,..

evolution sympathy morality science evolution-of-morality social intellect instincts

Charles Darwin

a51dc43

I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.

Charles Darwin

a701edb

If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find no such case.

evolution science macro-evolution macroevolution darwinism

Charles Darwin

1ae41c4

for the shield may be as important for victory, as the sword or spear.

Charles Darwin

3103cba

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.

life

Charles Darwin

a37d216

But I am very poorly today & very stupid & I hate everybody & everything. One lives only to make blunders.

hate bad-mood

Charles Darwin

7eed6e7

To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.

reason truth error fact

Charles Darwin

2b55262

It is always advisable to perceive clearly our ignorance.

ignorance

Charles Darwin

7d09ba1

The loss of these tastes [for poetry and music] is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.

poetry music stimulation character-building taste emotions intellect

Charles Darwin

94148ce

We are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with truth as far as our reason permits us to discover it.

hopes reason truth

Charles Darwin

e9bd460

We will now discuss in a little more detail the Struggle for Existence.

Charles Darwin

0bc33a8

we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps

Charles Darwin

eef3156

At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break will then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state as we may hope, than the Caucasian and some ape as ..

racism negroes population-control racial-superiority negro darwinism

Charles Darwin

87e1879

For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs--as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no ..

evolution man slavery humanity sacrifice great-ape great-apes apes belief preference superstition humans torture

Charles Darwin

9234975

Nevertheless so profound is our ignorance, and so high our presumption, that we marvel when we hear of the extinction of an organic being; and as we do not see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate the world, or invent laws on the duration of the forms of life!

species natural-selection

Charles Darwin

0547565

But we are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with the truth as far as our reason allows us to discover it. I have given the evidence to the best of my ability; and we must acknowledge , as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his godlike intellect which has penetrated int..

Charles Darwin

be2439b

I think it inevitably follows, that as new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection, others will become rarer and rarer, and finally extinct. The forms which stand in closest competition with those undergoing modification and improvement will naturally suffer most.

Charles Darwin

ceeccbc

Origin of man now proved.--Metaphysics must flourish.--He who understands baboon would do more towards metaphysics than Locke.

evolution metaphysics

Charles Darwin

5583ee2

But Natural Selection, as we shall hereafter see, is a power incessantly ready for action, and is immeasurably superior to man's feeble efforts, as the works of Nature are to those of Art.

Charles Darwin

d8758a8

In conclusion, it appears that nothing can be more improving to a young naturalist, than a journey in distant countries.

Charles Darwin

9d9e0c6

Natural Selection almost inevitably causes much Extinction of the less improved forms of life and induces what I have called Divergence of Character.

Charles Darwin

0718307

It is often attempted to palliate slavery by comparing the state of slaves with our poorer countrymen: if the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin; but how this bears on slavery, I cannot see; as well might the use of the thumb-screw be defended in one land, by showing that men in another land suffered from some dreadful disease. Those who look tenderly at the slave owner, and wit..

race

Charles Darwin

71194de

But just in proportion as this process of extermination has acted on an enormous scale, so must the number of intermediate varieties, which have formerly existed, be truly enormous. Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the t..

evolution conclusion-before-evidence intermediate-forms missing-links fossils paleontology fossil-record macro-evolution macroevolution darwinism

Charles Darwin

4904222

To conclude, therefore, let no man out of a weak conceit of sobriety, or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God's word, or in the book of God's works; divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavour an endless progress or proficience in both."--Bacon: "Advancement of Learning"."

Charles Darwin

88dd9f2

Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind, none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by the hand of man; whether those of Brazil, where the powers of Life are predominant, or those of Tierra del Fuego, where Death and decay prevail. Both are temples filled with the varied productions of the God of Nature: -- no one can stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is more in man than the mere breath of..

Charles Darwin

3cf5ea1

As natural selection acts by competition, it adapts the inhabitants of each country only in relation to the degree of perfection of their associates; so that we need feel no surprise at the inhabitants of any one country, although on the ordinary view supposed to have been specially created and adapted for that country, being beaten and supplanted by the naturalised productions from another land.

evolution darwin

Charles Darwin

5617adb

When we no longer look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension; when we regard every production of nature as one which has had a history; when we contemplate every complex structure and instinct as the summing up of many contrivances, each useful to the possessor, nearly in the same way as when we look at any great mechanical invention as the summing up of the labour, the experience, ..

physicalism natural-history

Charles Darwin

ea3e16c

There are several other sources of enjoyment in a long voyage, which are of a more reasonable nature. The map of the world ceases to be a blank; it becomes a picture full of the most varied and animated figures. Each part assumes its proper dimensions: continents are not looked at in the light of islands, or islands considered as mere specks, which are, in truth, larger than many kingdoms of Europe. Africa, or North and South America, are w..

travel worldview

Charles Darwin

1d98c42

Englishmen rarely cry, except under the pressure of the acutest grief; whereas in some parts of the Continent the men shed tears much more readily and freely.

englishmen tears

Charles Darwin