Evolution Quotes - Page 18

• The proposition that the meek (that is the adaptable and serviceable), inherit the earth is not merely a wishful sentiment of religion, but an iron law of evolution.

  Kenneth E. Boulding

  Science, Law, Iron

  KENNETH E. BOULDING (1953). “THE ORGANIZATIONAL REVOLUTION”

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• The resources of the Deity cannot be so meagre, that, in order to create a human being endowed with reason, he must change a monkey into a man.

  Louis Agassiz

  Science, Men, Order

  Louis Agassiz (1863). “Methods of Study in Natural History”, p.4, Ayer Company Pub

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• The scientific doctrine of progress is destined to replace not only the myth of progress, but all other myths of human earthly destiny. It will inevitably become one of the cornerstones of man's theology, or whatever may be the future substitute for theology, and the most important external support for human ethics.

  Julian Huxley

  Science, Destiny, Men

  Julian Huxley (1957). “New Bottles for New Wine: Essays”

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• The Silurian Period-the grandest of all the Periods,-and, as yet, apparently the seed-time of all succeeding life.

  John Jeremiah Bigsby

  Life, Science, Succeed

  John Jeremiah Bigsby (1868). “Thesauricus Siluricus: The flora and fauna of the Silurian period. With addenda (from recent acquisitions).”, p.1

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• The succession of individuals, connected by reproduction and belonging to a species, makes it possible for the specific form itself to last for ages. In the end, however, the species is temporary; it has no "eternal life." After existing for a certain period, it either dies or is converted by modification into other forms.

  Ernst Haeckel

  Life, Science, Age

  Ernst Haeckel (1904). “Wonders of life”

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• We do not draw conclusions with our eyes, but with our reasoning powers, and if the whole of the rest of living nature proclaims with one accord from all sides the evolution of the world of organisms, we cannot assume that the process stopped short of Man. But it follows also that the factors which brought about the development of Man from his Simian ancestry must be the same as those which have brought about the whole of evolution.

  August Weismann

  Nature, Eye, Science

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• We have long been seeking a different kind of evolutionary process and have now found one; namely, the change within the pattern of the chromosomes. ... The neo-Darwinian theory of the geneticists is no longer tenable.

  Richard Goldschmidt

  Science, Long, Different

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• Workers must root out the idea that by keeping the results of their labors to themselves a fortune will be assured to them. Patent fees are so much wasted money. The flying machine of the future will not be born fully fledged and capable of a flight for 1,000 miles or so. Like everything else it must be evolved gradually. The first difficulty is to get a thing that will fly at all. When this is made, a full description should be published as an aid to others. Excellence of design and workmanship will always defy competition.

  Lawrence Hargrave

  Future, Science, Ideas

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• There is little chance that aliens from two societies anywhere in the Galaxy will be culturally close enough to really 'get along.' This is something to ponder as you watch the famous cantina scene in Star Wars. ... Does this make sense, given the overwhelmingly likely situation that galactic civilizations differ in their level of evolutionary development by thousands or millions of years? Would you share drinks with a trilobite, an ourang-outang, or a saber-toothed tiger? Or would you just arrange to have a few specimens stuffed and carted off to the local museum?

  Seth Shostak

  Stars, War, Science

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• ... on these expanded membranes [butterfly wings] Nature writes, as on a tablet, the story of the modifications of species, so truly do all changes of the organisation register themselves thereon. Moreover, the same colour-patterns of the wings generally show, with great regularity, the degrees of blood-relationship of the species. As the laws of nature must be the same for all beings, the conclusions furnished by this group of insects must be applicable to the whole world.

  Henry Walter Bates

  Nature, Writing, Butterfly

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• In evolution, as in all areas of science, our knowledge is incomplete. But the entire success of the scientific enterprise has depended on an insistence that these gaps be filled by natural explanations, logically derived from confirmable evidence. Because "intelligent design" theories are based on supernatural explanations, they can have nothing to do with science.

  Bruce Alberts

  Intelligent, Design, Gaps

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• If a sect does officially insist that its structure of belief demands that evolution be false, then no compromise is possible. An honest and competent biology teacher can only conclude that the sect's beliefs are wrong and that its religion is a false one.

  George Gaylord Simpson

  Teacher, Doe, Demand

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• Although God believers don't need evolution to be false, atheists need evolution to be true.

  Ann Coulter

  Atheist, Needs, Being True

  Ann Coulter (2006). “Godless: The Church of Liberalism”, p.199, Crown Forum

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• (When asked merely if they accept evolution, 45 percent of Americans say yes. The figure is 70 percent in China.) When the movie Jurassic Park was shown in Israel, it was condemned by some Orthodox rabbis because it accepted evolution and because it taught that dinosaurs lived a hundred million years ago-when, as is plainly stated at every Rosh Hashonhan and every Jewish wedding ceremony, the Universe is less than 6,000 years old.

  Carl Sagan

  Atheist, Israel, Years

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.416, Ballantine Books

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• Nothing is more clear than that Christ cannot be explained by any humanistic system. He does not fit into any theory of natural evolution, for in that case the perfect flower of humanity should have appeared at the end of human history and not in the middle of it.

  Loraine Boettner

  Christian, Jesus, Flower

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• The evolution of culture is ultimately determined by the amount of love, understanding and freedom experienced by its children... Every abandonment, every betrayal, every hateful act towards children returns tenfold a few decades later upon the historical stage, while every empathic act that helps a child become what he or she wants to become, every expression of love toward children heals society and moves it in unexpected, wondrous new directions.

  Lloyd deMause

  Children, Betrayal, Moving

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• 'Neotenty' is 'remaining young,' and it may be ironic that it is so little known, because human evolution has been dominated by it.

  Tom Robbins

  Philosophy, Educational, Ironic

  Tom Robbins (2003). “Still Life with Woodpecker”, p.18, Bantam

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• Asperger's syndrome has probably been an important and valuable characteristic of our species throughout evolution.

  Tony Attwood

  Autism, Important, Aspergers

  Tony Attwood (2006). “The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome”, p.12, Jessica Kingsley Publishers

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• Aging is not 'lost youth,' but a new stage of opportunity and strength. It's a different stage of life, and if you are going to pretend it's youth, you are going to miss it. You are going to miss the surprises, the possibilities, and the evolution that we are just beginning to know about because there are no role models, no guideposts, and no signs.

  Betty Friedan

  Opportunity, Bad Ass, Lost Youth

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• Nature is an experimenter.

  Philip Jose Farmer

  Nature, Science, Natural

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• Deep down, all of us are probably aware that some kind of mystical evolution is our true task. Yet we suppress the notion with considerable force because to admit it is to admit that most of our political gyrations, religious dogmas, social ambitions, and financial ploys are not merely counter-productive but trivial.

  Tom Robbins

  Religious, Truth, Ambition

  Tom Robbins (2006). “Wild Ducks Flying Backward”, p.210, Bantam

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• In the past our glorious visions of the future - heaven, paradise, nirvana - were thought to happen after death. The newer thought is that we do not have to die to get there. We are not speaking here of life after death in some mythical heaven, but life more abundant in real time in history. We are speaking of the next stage of our social evolution.

  Barbara Marx Hubbard

  Time, Real, Future

  Barbara Marx Hubbard (2015). “Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential”, p.22, New World Library

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• 

  To get really high is to forget yourself. And to forget yourself is to see everything else. And to see everything else is to become an understanding molecule in evolution, a conscious tool of the universe.

  Jerry Garcia

  Understanding, Molecules, Tools

  Jerry Garcia, Charles Reich, Jann Wenner (2009). “Garcia: A Signpost To New Space”, p.68, Da Capo Press

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• Psychedelics are probably responsible for every aspect of human evolution apart from the decline in bodyhair.

  Terence McKenna

  Dmt, Psychedelic, Responsible

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• Conscience is the most sacred of all property.

  James Madison

  Religious, Liberty, Sacred

  James Madison (1867). “1829-1836”, p.479

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