Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
I have been speculating last night what makes a man a discoverer of undiscovered things. As far as I can conjecture the art consists in habitually searching for the causes and meaning of everything which occurs.
Interpretation
The essence of discovery lies in a persistent quest for understanding the causes and meanings behind events.
In this quote, Charles Darwin reflects on the nature of discovery, suggesting that it is not merely a matter of chance but rather a dedication to seeking out the underlying causes and meanings of occurrences. This mindset of inquiry and curiosity is what distinguishes a discoverer, highlighting the importance of continuous learning and critical thinking in the pursuit of knowledge.
In practice
During a lecture on scientific exploration, this quote can be used to inspire students about the importance of curiosity.
Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
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.
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.
I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
If you get a call to go to a certain place in the middle of the night to pick up stolen goods, and it turns out the stolen goods don't show up but the cops show up, I think you're going to have a very weak story saying, 'Well, I got swindled here.'
Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.
Whilst we deliberate how to begin a thing, it grows too late to begin it.
To know your faults and be able to change is the greatest virtue.
Looking over the country with those sunken eyes as if the world out there had been altered or made suspect by what he'd seen of it elsewhere. As if he might never see it right again. Or worse did see it right at last. See it as it had always been, would forever be.
Although individuals may be highly intelligent, they are sometimes dogged by skepticism and doubts. They are clever, but they tend to be hesitant and skeptical and are never really able to settle down. These people are the least receptive.
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