The 70 best phrases and reflections of Charles Darwin

charles robert darwin (1809 - 1882) was and is a renowned English naturalist, famous for being the father of the Theory of Evolution through natural selection.

This theory is studied and has wide acceptance today, leading Darwin's studies to be studied in a large number of countries. It is possibly one of the best examples to follow within the world of science, together with great scientists such as: Newton, Hawking either einstein.

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Famous quotes from Charles Darwin

We have all heard of this scientist at some point, but how many of us have read his own words in the first person? Below you can enjoy the 70 best phrases and reflections of Charles Darwin, with which you will surely learn a lot about him.

1. I am not fit to blindly follow the example of other men.

We must always think for ourselves, we must not blindly follow anyone.

2. It is always advisable to clearly perceive our ignorance.

Knowing we are ignorant is the first step towards personal wisdom.

3. Great is the power of constant misrepresentation.

Unfortunately, today's society is an inexhaustible source of misrepresentation, as Darwin tells us in this quote.

4. Beauty is the result of sexual selection.

Sexual selection is largely a direct cause of the physical beauty of a species.

5. The social instinct guides animals to enjoy the society of their fellow men.

Humans, like other animals, enjoy the company of our fellow humans.

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

Reading poetry and listening to good music can help us find our inner peace.

7. Music awakens in us various emotions, but not the most terrible, but rather sweet thoughts of tenderness and love.

As we all know that music tames beasts, Darwin was aware of this fact.

8. Intelligence is based on how efficient species become at doing the things they need to survive.

All species develop our intelligence in relation to how nature tests us.

9. Man tends to grow at a rate higher than his means of subsistence.

The human being is always looking for new resources that he can exploit, we are a consumer species by nature.

10. We stopped looking for monsters under the bed when we realized they were inside of us.

The biggest monsters that the human being faces are within himself.

11. A moral being is one who is able to reflect on his past actions and his motives, approving of some and disapproving of others.

The human being is the only animal that can judge his own actions once they are already in the past.

12. Killing an error is as good a service, and sometimes even better, as establishing a new truth or fact.

We must not persevere in our mistakes, we must learn from them so as not to make them again.

13. It's hard to believe in the gruesome but calm war lurking just below nature's serene facade.

Nature may seem calm, but if we know how to look deeply, we can see that it is a battle in constant development.

14. Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider as our equals.

The human being considers himself superior to any other animal, when in reality he is just another link in the evolutionary chain.

15. Mathematics seems to endow one with a new meaning.

Mathematics allow the human being to develop new forms of scientific and technological innovation.

16. In addition to love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities related to social instincts that in us would be called moral.

We must be more human and value animals in a much more honest way with our own ideals.

17. There is certainly no progress.

All progress is given by an original doubt.

18. At some point in the not too distant future, measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly be exterminated, replaced by savage races throughout the world.

The human being is unfortunately headed towards his own self-destruction.

19. I became a kind of machine for observing facts and drawing conclusions.

Darwin was a connoisseur of the scientific method and spent large periods of time observing the natural environment.

20. We have not obtained any scientific explanation on the ordinary view that each of the species has been created independently.

The famous theory of this scientist collided and still does, frontally with the theory of creation.

21. Little by little I stopped believing that Christianity was a divine revelation. The fact that many false religions spread like wildfire over much of the earth had some influence on me.

As a scientist, Darwin clearly questioned the Christian religion itself, since his way of thinking clashed with that religion.

22. In the fight for survival, the strongest wins at the expense of his rivals because he adapts better to his environment.

Knowing how to adapt more efficiently to problems will undoubtedly lead us to their best resolution.

23. With savagery, the weaknesses of the body and mind are quickly eliminated.

The human being is the only animal that has developed a truly advanced society, banishing savagery from it.

24. The surgeon is capable of hurting himself while operating, for he knows that he is doing his patient good.

Medicine is one of the greatest forces that human beings possess, of that we have no doubt.

25. The shield is as important to defeat as the sword and the spear.

A good defense can be the best attack.

26. Sexual selection is less rigorous than natural selection.

Living beings tend to reproduce to a large extent, since we are designed for this purpose.

27. I'm slowly dying because I don't have anyone to talk to about bugs.

Darwin felt greatly misunderstood in the society where he lived, this quote attests to this.

28. I love insects.

Darwin's love of insects will live on forever in his studies.

29. How easy we hide our ignorance behind the phrase "the plan of creation."

Religion was created to a great extent to give a logical meaning to those things that the human being did not understand.

30. It is quite clear that organic beings must be exposed over several generations to the new conditions of life to cause an appreciable amount of variation.

Living beings adapt and evolve, especially as a result of the adversities to which they are exposed.

31. Insects, like me, are misunderstood by most.

Insects may be perhaps the great misunderstood of creation.

32. I finally fell asleep on the grass and was able to wake up with the singing of the birds above my head.

This scientist was undoubtedly a great lover of nature.

33. Man selects for his own good, nature does it for the common good.

Natural selection takes great care of all its members, nature itself needs all of them for its proper functioning.

34. In the future I see more open fields for other investigations.

Surely this famous naturalist would greatly enjoy the latest technological advances in the field of research.

35. In the history of humanity, those who learn to cooperate are the ones who have prevailed.

Working as a group allows us to be more efficient and to obtain a much more satisfactory result.

36. It is the weaker members of a society that tend to propagate their species.

The “in quotes” weakest members of a society can also be the most valuable link.

37. It is a demonic curse for any man to be absorbed in any matter as I have been.

All the great geniuses, including Darwin, have been seriously absorbed by his discoveries.

38. My mistake was a good lesson that taught me never to trust the exclusion principle in the scientific field.

All great discoveries are the result of some kind of mistake.

39. I have no doubt that, on the whole, my works have been overrated time and time again.

In this quote we can see the great humility that this scientist displayed throughout his life.

40. I am a firm believer that without speculation there is no good and original observation.

In order to get to the bottom of any matter, we must first explore all the ins and outs that it hides from us.

41. The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and for my part I must be content to remain an agnostic.

Darwin, as he very well explains in this quote, was a convinced agnostic.

42. Favorable individual variations and differences, and the destruction of those that are harmful, is what we have called "natural selection" or "survival of the fittest."

Those specimens that best adapt to their natural environment are the ones that prevail.

43. A man of science should have no desires or affections, but a mere heart of stone.

In order to carry out purely scientific work, we must put our emotions aside.

44. Man is descended from a furry-tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in habit.

Today we know that all mammals come from a common ancestor, an ancestral animal similar to a rat.

45. In conclusion, it seems that nothing can be better for a young naturalist than a trip to distant countries.

To discover new species, naturalists are forced to make long journeys, often to the confines of civilization.

46. There is no fundamental difference between man and animals, in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery.

All animals, like human beings, feel, suffer and suffer.

47. I love silly experiments. I'm always doing them.

The most relevant conclusions can be drawn from the silliest experiments.

48. I have called this principle, whereby every slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of natural selection.

Natural selection allows us to evolve as living beings, highlighting those qualities that are most beneficial to us.

49. The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we must control our thoughts.

The power to control one's thoughts is a power that most animals do not possess.

50. Love for all living creatures is man's noblest attribute.

As rational animals we must watch over those animals that do not possess our same quality.

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

The human being is the biggest predator that suffers himself, we tend to hurt each other.

52. The very essence of instinct is that it is followed independently of reason.

Our instincts are capable of giving us a solution to a problem in a much faster and more effective way than our reason.

53. Ignorance often breeds confidence more often than knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know a lot, who claim that this or that problem will never be solved by science.

Ignorance is an evil that has always harmed the human being, because those who suffer from it are not capable of realizing that they are carriers.

54. It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that best adapts to change.

In this quote we see how Darwin gives a twist to the famous belief that the strongest or most intelligent survives, it is simply the best adapted.

55. I tried to read Shakespeare too late, so late that it made me nauseous.

No doubt this famous scientist was not a great admirer of William Shakespeare.

56. Free will is to mind what chance is to matter.

Free will and chance have certain features in common.

57. You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

If we are not concentrated we will not be able to understand what our own eyes see.

58. A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.

Tell me who you're with and I'll tell you who you are. Our friendships often define us.

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

We should never waste time, it is the most valuable asset available to human beings.

60. Natural selection, as we will see later, is a force always ready for action and so immeasurably superior to the feeble efforts of man as the works of nature are to the Of art.

The human being is not exempt from natural selection, he also suffers the designs of this famous law of nature.

61. When it was first said that the sun remained fixed and that the world revolved, the common sense of humanity declared the doctrine false; but the old saying “vox populi, vox Dei”, as every philosopher knows, cannot be entrusted to science.

We must think for ourselves and not get carried away by what the majority thinks.

62. An American monkey, an Ateles, who got drunk on cognac, could never be made to try it again, in which he acted with greater sanity than many men.

Animals are faster learning from their mistakes than human beings, we obsess over our mistakes.

63. History repeats itself. That is one of the mistakes of the story.

The human being must learn from history, so as not to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

64. It is so evident that good and bad qualities are hereditary.

Indeed, the best and worst qualities of our ancestors will shape us as individuals.

65. We do not like to consider the animals we have made our slaves our equals.

The human being has the absurd belief that he is a type of "superior entity" to the rest of the animal world, when this is really not the case.

66. The mystery of the beginning of all things is unsolvable to us.

How the universe was formed is a question that still assails us today.

67. Actually, I doubt compassion is a natural or innate quality.

Compassion is a quality that human beings take a long time to understand and value.

68. The tropical climate suits me admirably well; It makes me want to live quietly for a while.

The tropical climate is very benign for many people, the heat and good weather affect us all positively.

69. Although the dovecote, which is wild in a slightly altered state, has managed to return to said primitive state in some places.

Certain domesticated animals have the ability to return to their wild state in a short period of time.

70. There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties.

The human being simply has a different adaptation to the environment that surrounds him, but we are, after all, one more species of primate.