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Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin Quotes

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Famous Charles Darwin Quotes

“I have just finished my sketch of my species theory. If as I believe that my theory is true & if it be accepted even by one competent judge, it will be a considerable step in science. I therefore write this, in case of my sudden death, as my most solemn & last request, which I am sure you will consider the same as if legally entered in my will, that you will devote 400£ to its publication & further will yourself, or through Hensleigh [Wedgwood], take trouble in promoting it.”

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Book:On Evolution: The Development of the Theory of Natural Selection
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“Mr. J.S. Mill speaks, in his celebrated work, "Utilitarianism," of the social feelings as a "powerful natural sentiment," and as "the natural basis of sentiment for utilitarian morality," but on the previous page he says, "if, as is my own belief, the moral feelings are not innate, but acquired, they are not for that reason less natural." It is with hesitation that I venture to differ from so profound a thinker, but it can hardly be disputed that the social feelings are instinctive or innate in the lower animals; and why should they not be so in man?”

IfsMenShouldReasonFeelingsBeliefSpeakSocialNaturalMy OwnAnimalPowerfulMoralMoralityPagesEthicsBasesProfoundSentimentsThinkerVentureInnateHesitationMillsUtilitarianUtilitarianism
Book:The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
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“I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection, in order to mark its relation to man's power of selection. But the expression often used by Mr. Herbert Spencer of the Survival of the Fittest is more accurate, and is sometimes equally convenient.”

IfsMenSometimesUsedOrderTermNaturalPrinciplesExpressionSurvivalMarkRelationAccurateSelectionVariationConvenientNatural SelectionSurvival Of The Fittest
Author:Charles Darwin
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“On the theory of natural selection we can clearly understand the full meaning of that old canon in natural history, “Natura non facit saltum.” This canon, if we look only to the present inhabitants of the world, is not strictly correct, but if we include all those of past times, it must by my theory be strictly true.”

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Book:On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
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“... if variations useful to any organic being do occur, assuredly individuals thus characterized will have the best chance of being perserved in the struggle for life; and from the strong principle of inheritance they will tend to produce offsping similarly characterized. This principle of preservation, I have called, for the sake of brevity, Natural Selection.”

IfsIndividualStrongNaturalChancePrinciplesStruggleProduceSakePreservationSelectionInheritanceVariationNatural SelectionBrevity
Book:The Works of Charles Darwin: On the origin of species 1959
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“I have watched how steadily the general feeling, as shown at elections, has been rising against Slavery. What a proud thing for England if she is the first European nation which utterly abolishes it! I was told before leaving England that after living in slave countries all my opinions would be altered; the only alteration I am aware of is forming a much higher estimate of the negro character.”

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Book:Delphi Complete Works of Charles Darwin (Illustrated)
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“If a person asked my advice, before undertaking a long voyage, my answer would depend upon his possessing a decided taste for some branch of knowledge, which could by this means be advanced. No doubt it is a high satisfaction to behold various countries and the many races of mankind, but the pleasures gained at the time do not counterbalance the evils.”

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Book:The Voyage of the Beagle
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“I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my father, brother and almost all of my friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine.”

IfsMenBelieveI CanShowsSeemsReligionFatherLanguageWishFamilyChristianityAtheismBrotherOughtMy FriendsAtheistDoctrineBeing TrueNatural SelectionTheismTheistReligious PhilosophyChristian AtheistChristian DoctrinePlain Language
Book:Autobiographies
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“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.”

IfsHas BeensI CanBreakCasesTheoryEvolutionSpeciesComplexesOrgansBreaking DownNatural SelectionDarwinismCreationismModificationTheory Of EvolutionOrigin Of SpeciesCreation ScienceCreation And EvolutionEvolution Of ManOrigin Of Man
Book:On the Origin of Species
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“But then with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?”

IfsMenMindHas BeensValuesAnimalDoubtEvolutionConvictionAriseMonkeysTrustworthyDarwinismMonkey Mind
Book:Autobiography and Selected Letters
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“If worms have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and over their burrows, as seems the case, they deserve to be called intelligent; for they act in nearly the same manner as would man under similar circumstances.”

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Book:The Works of Charles Darwin, Volume 28: The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms With Observations on Their Habits
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“About thirty years ago there was much talk that geologists ought only to observe and not theorise; and I well remember some one saying that at this rate a man might as well go into a gravel-pit and count the pebbles and describe the colours. How odd it is that anyone should not see that all observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service!”

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Book:On the Origin of Species
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“My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain that alone on which the higher tastes depend, I cannot conceive. A man with a mind more highly organised or better constituted than mine would not, I suppose, have thus suffered, and if I had to live my life over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept alive through use.”

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Book:The life and letters of Charles Darwin...ed. by his son, Francis Darwin. 2 v
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“Extinction has only separated groups: it has by no means made them; for if every form which has ever lived on this earth were suddenly to reappear, though it would be quite impossible to give definitions by which each group could be distinguished from other groups, as all would blend together by steps as fine as those between the finest existing varieties, nevertheless a natural classification, or at least a natural arrangement, would be possible.”

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Book:On the Origin of Species
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“The lower animals, on the other hand, must have their bodily structure modified in order to survive under greatly changed conditions. They must be rendered stronger, or acquire more effective teeth or claws, in order to defend themselves from new enemies; or they must be reduced in size so as to escape detection and danger. When they migrate into a colder climate they must become clothed with thicker fur, or have their constitutions altered. If they fail to be thus modified, they will cease to exist.”

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Book:The origin of species by means of natural selection: The descent of man and selection in relation to sex
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“Owing to this struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relationship to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring.”

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Author:Charles Darwin
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“Consequently, if my theory be true, it is indisputable that before the lowest Silurian stratum was deposited, long periods elapsed, as long as, or probably far longer than, the whole interval from the Silurian age to the present day; and that during these vast, yet quite unknown, periods of time, the world swarmed with living creatures. To the question why we do not find records of these vast primordial periods, I can give no satisfactory answer.”

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Book:On the origin of species ... A facsimile of the first edition, with an introduction by Ernst Mayr. With a portrait and a bibliography
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“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, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.”

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Book:Darwin on Evolution: Words of Wisdom from the Father of Evolution
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“As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever branching and beautiful ramifications.”

IfsGivingBelieveHas BeensEarthBeautifulI BelieveSidesGrowthGenerationsTreeBrokenSurfaceBranchesBudVigorousTree Of LifeOrigin Of SpeciesRamifications
Book:Evolutionary Writings: including the Autobiographies
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“It is often said that all the conditions for the first production of a living organism are now present, which could ever have been present. But if (and oh! what a big if!) we could conceive in some warm little pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity, &c., present, that a proteine compound was chemically formed ready to undergo stillmore complex changes, at the present day such matter would be instantly devoured or absorbed, which would not have been the case before living creatures were formed.”

IfsFirstsHas BeensSaidStillsMatterBigsLightWould BeScienceCasesConditionsReadyCreaturesComplexesProductionsWarmHeatSaltOrganismsElectricityCompoundsPondsPresent DayLiving CreaturesIfs AndLiving Organisms
Author:Charles Darwin
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