Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends. Charles Darwin More Quotes by Charles Darwin More Quotes From Charles Darwin So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively in the evening. Charles Darwin smellnatureflower I cannot persuade myself that a beneficient and omnipotent God would have designedly created...that a cat should play with mice. Charles Darwin catshouldplay Man is developed from an ovule, about 125th of an inch in diameter, which differs in no respect from the ovules of other animals. Charles Darwin animalmenscience On your life, underestimating the proclivities of finches is likely to lead to great internal hemorrhaging. Charles Darwin finchesinternalsunderestimate The number of humble-bees in any district depends in a great degree on the number of field-mice, which destroy their combs and nests; and Mr. H. Newman, who has long attended to the habits of humble-bees, ... says "Near villages and small towns I have found the nests of humble-bees more numerous than elsewhere, which I attribute to the number of cats that destroy the mice." Hence it is quite credible that the presence of a feline animal in large numbers in a district might determine, through the intervention first of mice and then of bees, the frequency of certain flowers in that district! Charles Darwin catflowerhumble As some of the lowest organisms, in which nerves cannot be detected, are capable of perceiving light, it does not seem impossible that certain sensitive elements in their sarcode should become aggregated and developed into nerves, endowed with this special sensibility. Charles Darwin lightspecialdoe With mammals the male appears to win the female much more through the law of battle than through the display of his charms. Charles Darwin battlelawwinning Sympathy will have been increased through natural selection Charles Darwin natural-selectionhas-beensnatural The school as a means of education to me was simply a blank. Charles Darwin educationmeanschool When the sexes differ in beauty, in the power of singing, or in producing what I have called instrumental music, it is almost invariably the male which excels the female. Charles Darwin malessingingsex In regard to the amount of difference between the races, we must make some allowance for our nice powers of discrimination gained by a long habit of observing ourselves. Charles Darwin differencesnicerace Our ancestor was an animal which breathed water, had a swim-bladder, a great swimming tail, an imperfect skull & undoubtedly was an hermaphrodite! Here is a pleasant genealogy for mankind. Charles Darwin swimminganimalscience I must begin with a good body of facts and not from a principle (in which I always suspect some fallacy) and then as much deduction as you please. Charles Darwin bodyprinciplesfacts Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved Charles Darwin theory-of-evolutionorigin-of-lifebeautiful 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 Darwin ragssoundrunning Man himself cannot express love and humility by external signs, so plainly as does a dog, when with drooping ears, hanging lips, flexuous body, and wagging tail, he meets his beloved master. Charles Darwin humilitydogfriendship Englishmen rarely cry, except under the pressure of the acutest grief; whereas in some parts of the Continent the men shed tears much more readily and freely. Charles Darwin tearsgriefmen Jealousy was plainly exhibited when I fondled a large doll, and when I weighed his infant sister, he being then 15? months old. Seeing how strong a feeling of jealousy is in dogs, it would probably be exhibited by infants at any earlier age than just specified if they were tried in a fitting manner Charles Darwin emotionalstrongdog It's an awful stretcher to believe that a peacock's tail was thus formed but ... most people just don't get it - I must be a very bad explainer Charles Darwin tailsbelievepeople Many kinds of monkeys have a strong taste for tea, coffee and spirituous liqueurs. Charles Darwin coffeestrongtea
