Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
It is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life; one might as well think of origin of matter.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that contemplating the origins of life is as futile as considering the origins of matter, implying limits to our understanding.
In this quote, Charles Darwin reflects on the complexities and challenges inherent in understanding the origins of life. He implies that just as pondering the beginning of matter leads to questions beyond human comprehension, so too does the exploration of life's origin. This assertion serves to highlight the boundaries of human knowledge and the limitations of current scientific inquiry into existential origins.
Themes
OriginLifeMatterUnderstandingKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a scientific discussion about the limits of our understanding of life.
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
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
Carl SaganRead
The universe is very big - there's about 100,000 million galaxies in the universe, so that means an awful lot of stars. And some of them, I'm pretty certain, will have planets where there was life, is life, or maybe will be life. I don't believe we're alone.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead
A wonderful area for speculative academic work is the unknowable. These days religious subjects are in disfavor, but there are still plenty of good topics. The nature of consciousness, the workings of the brain, the origin of aggression, the origin of language, the origin of life on earth, SETI and life on other worlds...this is all great stuff. Wonderful stuff. You can argue it interminably. But it can't be contradicted, because nobody knows the answer to any of these topics.
Michael CrichtonRead
In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more than push it as far as it will go.
Denis DiderotRead
Science is now the craft of the manipulation, substitution and deflection of the forces of nature. What I see coming is a gigantic slaughterhouse, an Auschwitz, in which valuable enzymes, hormones, and so on will be extracted instead of gold teeth.
Erwin ChargaffRead
Indeed, our everyday world presents intellectual challenges just as daunting as those of the cosmos and the quantum, and that is where 99 per cent of scientists focus their efforts. Even the smallest insect, with its intricate structure, is far more complex than either an atom or a star.
Martin ReesRead