QuoteProject
One day, on tearing off some old bark, I saw two rare beetles, and seized one in each hand. Then I saw a third and new kind, which I could not bear to lose, so I popped the one which I held in my right hand into my mouth. Alas! it ejected some intensely acrid fluid, which burnt my tongue so that I was forced to spit the beetle out, which was lost, as was the third one.
Charles Darwin
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote illustrates the consequences of greed and the pursuit of more, leading to the loss of what one already has.

In this quote, Charles Darwin reflects on a moment of curiosity that led to an impulsive decision. By attempting to seize a new and rare beetle while holding onto two others, he experiences the unfortunate outcome of losing both the new beetle and one already in his possession. This serves as a metaphor for human behavior, highlighting how the desire for more can lead to loss and regret.

Themes

GreedLossCuriosityImpulsivityConsequences

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about focusing on what we have rather than what we lack.

More from Charles Darwin

Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
Charles DarwinRead
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 DarwinRead
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.
Charles DarwinRead
I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
Charles DarwinRead
we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
Charles DarwinRead

Similar quotes

In a lot of scientists, the ratio of wonder to skepticism declines in time. That may be connected with the fact that in some fields-mathematics, physics, some others-the great discoveries are almost entirely made by youngsters.
Carl SaganRead
Imagination alone is not enough, because the reality of nature is far more wondrous than anything we can imagine
Neil Degrasse TysonRead
To those who ask what the infinitely small quantity in mathematics is, we answer that it is actually zero. Hence there are not so many mysteries hidden in this concept as they are usually believed to be.
Leonhard EulerRead
It is not so much that I have confidence in scientists being right, but that I have so much in nonscientists being wrong.
Isaac AsimovRead
Here I am at the turn of the millennium and I'm still the last man to have walked on the moon, somewhat disappointing. It says more about what we have not done than about what we have done.
Gene CernanRead
The image of Stephen Hawking - who has died aged 76 - in his motorised wheelchair, with head contorted slightly to one side and hands crossed over to work the controls, caught the public imagination as a true symbol of the triumph of mind over matter.
Roger PenroseRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.