Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
We feel surprise when travellers tell us of the vast dimensions of the Pyramids and other great ruins, but how utterly insignificant are the greatest of these, when compared to these mountains of stone accumulated by the agency of various minute and tender animals!
Interpretation
What this quote means
Darwin emphasizes the insignificance of human achievements compared to the monumental work of nature and its creatures.
In this quote, Charles Darwin reflects on the awe-inspiring power of nature as represented by mountains made over time by small creatures, contrasting it with human-made structures like the Pyramids. Through this comparison, he suggests that while we admire human achievements, they pale in significance when viewed in the context of the persistent and collective efforts of nature's smallest beings, highlighting the grandeur and resilience of the natural world.
Themes
NatureInsignificanceAchievementCreaturesMountains
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, this quote underscores the importance of respecting nature's work.
More from Charles Darwin
All quotes →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.
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
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