Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.
Interpretation
Humans often make choices based on selfish interests, while nature acts with the broader benefit of life in mind.
In this quote, Charles Darwin highlights the contrast between human decision-making and the natural world's processes. While humans tend to prioritize their own needs and desires, nature operates with a more holistic approach that ensures the survival and welfare of all living beings. This reflects a philosophical perspective on the differences in how humans and nature fulfill their roles in the ecosystem.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about environmental conservation.
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
When lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner
Things are so hard to figure out when you live from day to day in this feverish and silly world.
I've wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don't want the responsibility inherent in the acknowledgment. We don't want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn't remarkable, then we don't have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims instead of grateful participants.
Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.
And when man faces destiny, destiny ends and man comes into his own.
The fundamental question of political philosophy, one that precedes questions about how the state should be organized, is whether there should be any state at all. Why not have anarchy?
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