Quotes About Evolution

It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.

Biology, meaning the science of all life, is a late notion.

The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces - in nature, in society, in man himself.

Man will become immeasurably stronger, wiser, and subtler; his body will become more harmonious, his movements more rhythmic, his voice more musical. The forms of life will become dynamically dramatic. The average human type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe, or a Marx. And above these heights, new peaks will rise.

however, constitutes a new historical phenomenon.

I don't even hate books anymore.

Well I am the one who loves changing from nothing to one.

I sailed like a swan I sank like a rock But time is long gone Past my laughing stock

The party is over but I've landed on my feet And I'm standing here on this corner Where there used to be a street

Directly stated, the evolution of the entire universe—stars, elements, life, man—is a process of drawing something out of nothing, out of the utter void of nonbeing.

The universe is continually at its work of restructuring itself at a higher, more complex, more elegant level. The novelty, the new, more complex order, doesn't emerge from the present in a steady stream, nor at all places at the same rate. It comes, as all things do, in rhythmic waves; there will always be times and places of scarcity and stagnation and retrogression. Still, the long-term direction is clear. The intention of the universe is evolution.

We might say the universe is so constituted as to maximize play. The best games are not those in which all goes smoothly and steadily toward a certain conclusion, but those in which the outcome is always in doubt. Similarly, the geometry of life is designed to keep us at the point of maximum tension between certainty and uncertainty, order and chaos. Every important call is a close one. We survive and evolve by the skin of our teeth. We really wouldn't want it any other way.

There is a human striving for self-transcendence. It's part of what makes us human. With all of our flaws we want to go a little bit further than we've gone before and maybe even further than anyone else has gone before.

But when does something's destiny finally come to fruition? Is the plant complete when it flowers? When it goes to seed? When the seeds sprout? When everything turns into compost?

Is the plant complete when it flowers? When it goes to seed? When the seeds sprout? When everything turns into compost?

History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.

I have found my way, step by step, proceeding from touch points that have emerged, some through conscious choice and some through dream state discovery.

Can you imagine doing ministry the last five hundred years and getting away with 'Sorry, I don't do books'? Can you imagine doing ministry in the next five years and getting away with 'Sorry, I don't do Facebook'?

It took less than three generations of children online to wipe out the part of the brain that's hard-wired for awe.

You should always know when you're shifting gears in life. You should leave your era; it should never leave you.

Nature wants to propogate our race. What else would it want. We, however, are vain and gullible enough to convince ourselves that it has our happiness in mind.

Throughout evolutionary history, anxiety and fear have helped every species to be wary and to survive. Fear can signal us to act, or, alternatively, to resist the impulse to act. It can help us to make wise, self-protective choices in and out of relationships where we might otherwise sail mindlessly along, ignoring signs of trouble.

Any good music must be an innovation.

You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your present circumstances unless you change.