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For I am well aware that scarcely a single point is discussed in this volume on which facts cannot be adduced, often apparently leading to conclusions directly opposite to those at which I have arrived. A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.
Charles Darwin
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Charles Darwin emphasizes the need for a balanced examination of facts to reach fair conclusions.

In this quote, Charles Darwin highlights the importance of comprehensively understanding both sides of an argument or question in order to arrive at a fair conclusion. He acknowledges that different interpretations can arise from the same set of facts, suggesting that a thorough and balanced discussion is essential for a true understanding of complex issues.

Themes

BalanceFactsArgumentsUnderstandingConclusions

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate on climate change, one might quote Darwin to encourage both sides to present their facts and arguments for a fair discussion.

More from Charles Darwin

Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
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The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
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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.
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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.
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we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
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