Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
...I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ much in intellect, only in zeal and hard work; and I still think there is an eminently important difference.
Interpretation
Intellect varies little among men; the key distinctions lie in their passion and effort.
In this quote, Charles Darwin suggests that the differences in intelligence among individuals are minimal. Instead, what truly sets people apart is their level of enthusiasm and dedication to their pursuits, implying that hard work and passion are significant determinants of success and achievement.
In practice
During a motivational speech for students emphasizing the importance of effort over natural talent.
Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
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.
We cannot fathom the marvelous complexity of an organic being; but on the hypothesis here advanced this complexity is much increased. Each living creature must be looked at as a microcosm--a little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars in heaven.
I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
The truth can never be wrong, even if no one hears it.
Indifference is harder to fight than hostility, and there is nothing that kills an agitation like having everybody admit that it is fundamentally right.
Master your breath, let the self be in bliss, contemplate on the sublime within you.
People will never know how hard it is to get information, especially if it's locked up behind official doors where, if politicians had their way, they'd stamp 'top secret' on the color of the walls.
Self-esteem comes from being able to define the world in your own terms and refusing to abide by the judgments of others.
Age certainly hadn't conferred any smarts on me. Character maybe, but mediocrity is a constant, as one Russian writer put it. Russian writers have a way with aphorisms. They probably spend all winter thinking them up.
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