Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow.
You know, all is development. The principle is perpetually going on. First, there was nothing, then there was something; then-I forget the next-I think there were shells, then fishes; then we came-let me see-did we come next? Never mind that; we came at last. And at the next change there will be something very superior to us-something with wings. Ah! That's it: we were fishes, and I believe we shall be crows.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the ongoing evolution and transformation of life, suggesting that progress is a constant process that leads to better forms of existence.
In this quote, Benjamin Disraeli reflects on the idea of development and evolution, illustrating how every stage of existence is part of a continual journey towards improvement. He suggests that humanity has evolved from simple forms of life and anticipates further advancements in the future, implying that change is not only inevitable but also essential for progress. The notion of becoming 'something very superior' emphasizes hope and aspiration for a better future.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on evolution, one might use this quote to illustrate the concept of continuous development in nature.
More from Benjamin Disraeli
All quotes →But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.
Grief is the agony of an instant. The indulgence of grief the blunder of a life.
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Yes, I am a Jew and when the ancestors of the right honorable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon.
The practice of politics in the East may be defined by one word: dissimulation.
Similar quotes
My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don't care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being just a company means to me is not being just that - building something that actually makes a really big change in the world.
I’ve also been reminded recently that while as a society we are moving toward greater inclusion and equality for all people, the tide of history only advances when people make themselves fully visible.
Women are an enslaved population - the crop we harvest is children, the fields we work are houses. Women are forced into committing sexual acts with men that violate integrity because the universal religion - contempt for women - has as its first commandment that women exist purely as sexual fodder for men.
As people of color, it took a whole generation in many ways to get us out of the kitchen, and it's gonna take us the same whole generation to get us back into the kitchen and have ownership of restaurants, hotels and stuff like that.
The whole world is starting to realize that it was the most unwise thing for our society to have ignored women power, to run the society with male priorities.
Climate change, the spread of weapons of mass destruction. None of those can really effectively be dealt with by any one country acting alone and even the United States can't handle them alone. China needs to be part of the game on that.