Exercising the right of occasional suppression and slight modification, it is truly absurd to see how plastic a limited number of observations become, in the hands of men with preconceived ideas. Francis Galton More Quotes by Francis Galton More Quotes From Francis Galton It is always the case with the best work, that it is misrepresented, and disparaged at first, for it takes a curiously long time for new ideas to become current, and the older men who ought to be capable of taking them in freely, will not do so through prejudice. Francis Galton hard-work men ideas It is difficult to understand why statisticians commonly limit their inquiries to Averages, and do not revel in more comprehensive views. Their souls seem as dull to the charm of variety as that of the native of one of our flat English counties, whose retrospect of Switzerland was that, if its mountains could be thrown into its lakes, two nuisances would be got rid of at once. Francis Galton views lakes average The inferiority of photographs to the best works of artists, so far as resemblance is concerned, lies in their catching no more than a single expression. If many photographs of a person were taken at different times, perhaps even years apart, their composite would possess that in which a single photograph is deficient. Francis Galton artist taken lying Well-washed and well-combed domestic pets grow dull; they miss the stimulus of fleas. Francis Galton pet dog missing Life is a republic where the individuals are for the most part unconscious that while they are working for themselves they are also working for the public good. Francis Galton republic individual life-is The cat is the only non-gregarious domestic animal. It is retained by its extra-ordinary adhesion to the comforts of the house in which it is reared. Francis Galton cat house animal We shall therefore take an appropriately correct view of the origin of our life, if we consider our own embryos to have sprung immediately from those embryos whence our parents were developed, and these from the embryos of their parents, and so on for ever. We should in this way look on the nature of mankind, and perhaps on that of the whole animated creation, as one Continuous System, ever pushing out new branches in all directions, that variously interlace, and that bud into separate lives at every point of interlacement. Francis Galton bud parent views The conditions that direct the order of . . . the living world . . . are marked by their persistence in improving the birthright of successive generations. Francis Galton persistence order world
