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I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
Charles Darwin
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Natural selection explains how useful variations in species are preserved over generations.

This quote by Charles Darwin encapsulates the idea of natural selection, a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology. It suggests that in nature, the variations among individuals that are advantageous for survival and reproduction are retained and passed on to future generations, leading to gradual adaptation and evolution of species over time.

Themes

Natural SelectionEvolutionAdaptationSpeciesVariation

In practice

Example use cases

In a biology class while discussing the principles of evolution.

More from Charles Darwin

Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
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The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
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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.
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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.
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we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
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I am not the least afraid to die
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