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On The Origin of Species quotes

Charles Darwin

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“A grain in the balance may determine which individuals shall live and which shall die—which variety or species shall increase in number, and which shall decrease, or finally become extinct.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Great is the power of steady misrepresentation; but the history of science shows that fortunately this power does not long endure.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Man selects only for his own good; Nature only for that of the being which she tends.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“And thus, the forms of life throughout the universe become divided into groups subordinate to groups.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“But Natural Selection, we shall hereafter see, is a power incessantly ready for action, and is as immeasurably superior to man's feeble efforts, as the works of Nature are to those of Art.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“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...” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“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 out no such case.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“This preservation of favourable individual differences and variations, and the destruction of those which are injurious, I have called Natural Selection, or the Survival of the Fittest.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“In all cases positive palaeontological evidence may be implicitly trusted; negative evidence is worthless, as experience has so often shown.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“He who believes that each being has been created as we now see it, must occasionally have felt surprise when he has met with an animal having habits and structure not in agreement.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of any one.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“It seems clear that organic beings must be exposed during several generations to new conditions to cause any great amount of variation; and that, when the organisation has once begun to vary, it generally continues varying for many generations.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“But a plant on the edge of a desert is said to struggle for life against the drought, though more properly it should be said to be dependent on the moisture.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“It has already been stated that various parts in the same individual, which are exactly alike during an early embryonic period, become widely different and serve for widely different purposes in the adult state.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Hence if man goes on selecting, and thus augmenting, any peculiarity, he will almost certainly modify unintentionally other parts of the structure, owing to the mysterious laws of correlation.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“It is a fact of some importance to us, that peculiarities appearing in the males of our domestic breeds are often transmitted, either exclusively or in a much greater degree, to the males alone.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“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.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Natural selection acts solely through the preservation of variations in some way advantageous, which consequently endure.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Nothing is easier than to admit in words the truth of the universal struggle for life, or more difficult—at least I found it so—than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“It may metaphorically be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinising, throughout the world, the slightest variations; rejecting those that are bad, preserving and adding up all that are good; silently and insensibly working,...” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“On the ordinary view of each species having been independently created, why should specific characters, or those by which the species of the same genus differ from each other, be more variable than the generic characters in which they all agree?” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself,...” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“When we reflect on this struggle we may console ourselves with the full belief that the war of nature is not incessant, that no fear is felt, that death is generally prompt, and that the vigorous, the healthy, and the happy survive and multiply.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“If the country were open on its borders, new forms would certainly immigrate, and this would likewise seriously disturb the relations of some of the former inhabitants.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Some highly competent authorities are convinced that the setter is directly derived from the spaniel, and has probably been slowly altered from it.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“One of the most remarkable features in our domesticated races is that we see in them adaptation, not indeed to the animal's or plant's own good, but to man's use or fancy.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“All the individuals of the same species, and all the species of the same genus, or even higher group, are descended from common parents” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Both in time and space species and groups of species have their points of maximum development.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species

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evolution nature selection species science extinction variation man life time struggle creationism structure biology history good ignorance death beauty religion

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Charles Darwin quotes