Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
I think it inevitably follows, that as new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection, others will become rarer and rarer, and finally extinct. The forms which stand in closest competition with those undergoing modification and improvement will naturally suffer most.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote discusses the process of natural selection leading to the extinction of species that cannot adapt.
Charles Darwin highlights the inevitable consequences of natural selection, where as new species evolve and adapt to their environment, those that cannot keep pace will become less common and may ultimately face extinction. This reflects the competitive nature of evolution, where species in direct competition with those evolving will struggle for survival.
Themes
Natural SelectionEvolutionExtinctionSpeciesCompetition
In practice
Example use cases
In a biology class discussing evolution, this quote can be used to illustrate the concept of natural selection.
More from Charles Darwin
All quotes →The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
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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.
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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.
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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
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