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
What this quote means
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.
Themes
NatureSelfishnessHumanitySurvivalEcosystem
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about environmental conservation.
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
Similar quotes
The full meaning of life, the collective meaning of all human desires, is fundamentally a mystery beyond our grasp. As a young man, I chafed at this state of affairs. But by now I have made peace with it. I even feel a certain honor to be associated with such a mystery.
Eugene WignerRead
To say revelation is to say, 'the Word became flesh...'
Karl BarthRead
Some dying men are the most tyrannical; and certainly, since they will shortly trouble us so little for evermore, the poor fellows ought to be indulged.
Herman MelvilleRead
But this was the only way of life that humans knew for their first 6m years on the planet. In giving it up over the past few thousand years, we have lost our vulnerability to disease and cold and wild animals, but we have also lost good ways to bring up children, look after old people, stave off diabetes and heart disease and understand the real dangers of everyday life.
Jared DiamondRead
To kill a man will be considered as disgusting [in the twentieth century] as we in this day consider it disgusting to eat one.
Andrew CarnegieRead
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John MuirRead