Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
From the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of higher animals, directly follows.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Darwin reflects on the inevitability of evolution, suggesting that despite suffering, higher forms of life emerge.
In this quote, Darwin emphasizes that the struggles endured in nature, including famine and death, are integral to the evolutionary process. He suggests that these hardships are not merely obstacles but are essential conditions that contribute to the emergence of more complex and advanced life forms, embodying the idea that from adversity can come progress and sophistication in the natural world.
Themes
EvolutionNatureSurvivalAdversityHigher Beings
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about natural selection and the resilience 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
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