Quotes About Evolution

The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind.

interpositions

Nevertheless it is probable that the hearing rather early in life such views maintained and praised may have favoured my upholding them under a different form in my 'Origin of Species.

the structure of every organic being is related, in the most essential yet often hidden manner, to that of all the other organic beings ...

It has already been stated that various parts in the same individual, which are exactly alike during an early embryonic period, become widely different and serve for widely different purposes in the adult state. So again it has been shown that generally the embryos of the most distinct species belonging to the same class are closely similar, but become, when fully developed, widely dissimilar.

I find I look at this province with very different eyes then when I arrived. I recollect I then thought of it as singularly level, but now after galloping over the montañas my own only surprise is what could have induced me to have ever called it level!

El aislamiento también es un elemento importante en la modificación de las especies por medio de la selección natural. En un área limitada o aislada, si no es muy grande, serán generalmente casi uniformes las condiciones orgánicas e inorgánicas de la vida, de modo que la selección natural tenderá a modificar de la misma manera a todos los individuos que varíen en la misma especie.

Charles Darwin

It is so easy to hide our ignorance under such expressions as the plan of creation, unity of design

Light will be thrown on the origin of men and his history.

Who can explain why one species ranges widely and is very numerous, and why another allied species has a narrow range and is rare? Yet these relations are of the highest importance, for they determine the present welfare, and, as I believe, the future success and modification of every inhabitant of this world.

I can entertain no doubt, after the most deliberate study and dispassionate judgment of which I am capable, that the view which most naturalists entertain, and which I formerly entertained—namely, that each species has been independently created—is erroneous.

puede llegar a deducir que las especies no han sido creadas independientemente, sino que han descendido como variedades de otras especies.

As the species of the same genus usually have, though by no means invariably, much similarity in habits and constitution, and always in structure, the struggle will generally be more severe between them, if they come into competition with each other, than between the species of distinct genera.

Some highly competent authorities are convinced that the setter is directly derived from the spaniel, and has probably been slowly altered from it. It is known that the English pointer has been

immutable productions

Through his powers of intellect, articulate language has been evolved; and on this his wonderful advancement has mainly depended.

Judging from the past, we may safely infer that not one living species will transmit its unaltered likeness to a distant futurity.

Die Tiere empfinden wie der Mensch Freude und Schmerz, Glück und Unglück.

like varieties, from other species. Nevertheless, such a conclusion, even if well founded, would be unsatisfactory, until it could be shown how the innumerable species inhabiting this world have been modified, so as to acquire that perfection of structure and coadaptation which most justly excites our admiration. Naturalists continually refer to external conditions, such as climate, food, etc., as the only possible cause of variation. In one very

Natural selection rendered evolution scientifically intelligible: it was this more than anything else which convinced professional biologists like Sir Joseph Hooker, T. H. Huxley and Ernst Haeckel.

No doubt as long as man and all other animals are viewed as independent creations, an effectual stop is put to our natural desire to investigate as far as possible the causes of Expression.

He who understands baboon would do more towards metaphysics than John Locke.

Charles Darwin