Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is bad, preserving and adding up all that is good; silently and insensibly working, wherever and whenever opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Natural selection constantly evaluates and improves organisms based on their adaptations to their environment.
This quote by Charles Darwin emphasizes the ongoing process of natural selection, where every minute variation in organisms is examined and either retained or discarded based on its beneficial or harmful impact on survival. It highlights the subtle yet powerful forces of nature that shape the evolution of all living beings, indicating that this process is continuous and occurs both overtly and subtly, ultimately leading to the improvement of species in response to their environments.
Themes
Natural SelectionEvolutionAdaptationSurvivalVariationOrganism
In practice
Example use cases
In a biology class while discussing the theory of evolution, this quote can illustrate the mechanism 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.
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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