Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
The very essence of instinct is that it's followed independently of reason.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Instinct drives behavior without the influence of rational thought.
In this quote, Charles Darwin emphasizes that instinct operates on a fundamental level, guiding actions and decisions, often in ways that are not governed by logical reasoning. This observation highlights the primal nature of instinct as a crucial component of human and animal behavior, suggesting that our instincts can compel us to act in certain ways without deliberation or conscious reasoning.
Themes
InstinctReasonBehaviorNatureDecision
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about the nature of decision-making, one might quote Darwin to emphasize the role of instinct.
More from Charles Darwin
All quotes βThe highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
Charles DarwinRead
I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science....It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many flaw[s] & holes as sound parts.
Charles DarwinRead
We cannot fathom the marvelous complexity of an organic being; but on the hypothesis here advanced this complexity is much increased. Each living creature must be looked at as a microcosm--a little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars in heaven.
Charles DarwinRead
I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
Charles DarwinRead
we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
Charles DarwinRead
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