The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin: Including an Autobiographical Chapter, Volume 1 |
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Page 14
... remarks ) for his knowledge of the affairs of Europe , on which he great- ly prided himself . He consulted my father medically , and afterwards harangued him on the state of Holland . My father had studied medicine at Leyden , and one ...
... remarks ) for his knowledge of the affairs of Europe , on which he great- ly prided himself . He consulted my father medically , and afterwards harangued him on the state of Holland . My father had studied medicine at Leyden , and one ...
Page 15
... remark reminds me of a case showing how a witness under the most favourable cir- cumstances may be utterly mistaken . A gentleman - farmer was strongly urged by my father not to drink , and was en- couraged by being told that he himself ...
... remark reminds me of a case showing how a witness under the most favourable cir- cumstances may be utterly mistaken . A gentleman - farmer was strongly urged by my father not to drink , and was en- couraged by being told that he himself ...
Page 53
... remark made by my father , who was the most acute observer whom I ever saw , a sceptical disposition , and far from being a believer in phre- nology ; for on first seeing me after the voyage , he turned round to my sisters , and ...
... remark made by my father , who was the most acute observer whom I ever saw , a sceptical disposition , and far from being a believer in phre- nology ; for on first seeing me after the voyage , he turned round to my sisters , and ...
Page 57
... remarks , but they almost always related to minute points , and he never with me discussed large or general questions in science . , * During these two years I took several short excursions as a relaxation , and one longer one to the ...
... remarks , but they almost always related to minute points , and he never with me discussed large or general questions in science . , * During these two years I took several short excursions as a relaxation , and one longer one to the ...
Page 59
... remark to him on Geology , he never rested until he saw the whole case clearly , and often made me see it more clearly than I had done before . He would advance all possible objections to my suggestion , and even after these were ...
... remark to him on Geology , he never rested until he saw the whole case clearly , and often made me see it more clearly than I had done before . He would advance all possible objections to my suggestion , and even after these were ...
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Common terms and phrases
abstract admiration affectionately afterwards animals answer Asa Gray asked Barmouth Beagle believe Cambridge Captain Beaufort Captain Fitz-Roy chapter CHARLES DARWIN Cirripedes Cirripedia Coral curious Darwin to J. D. dear Fox dear Henslow dear Hooker DEAR HOOKER,-I delightful doubt edition England Erasmus facts father feel Flora forms genera geological give glad Glen Roy hear heard hope insects interest islands Journal kind letter Linnean London look Lyell Maer mind Moor Park Natural History natural selection naturalist never Origin of Species paper plants pleasant pleasure published Recollections remarks remember scientific seeds seems Shrewsbury sincerely Sir J. D. Hooker sketch Society South South America suppose sure tell thank theory things thought Tierra del Fuego tion told trouble variation varieties voyage W. D. Fox week whole wish write written wrote Zoology
Popular passages
Page 82 - I suppose, have thus suffered; and if I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.
Page 370 - There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.
Page 473 - I never saw a more striking coincidence; if Wallace had my MS. sketch written out in 1842, he could not have made a better short abstract! Even his terms now stand as heads of my chapters.
Page 51 - Beagle" has been by far the most important event in my life, and has determined my whole career; yet it depended on so small a circumstance as my uncle offering to drive me thirty miles to Shrewsbury, which few uncles would 41 have done, and on such a trifle as the shape of my nose.
Page 71 - I had, also, during many years followed a golden rule, namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory than favorable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted to answer.
Page 81 - ... novels which are works of the imagination, though not of a very high order, have been for years a wonderful relief and pleasure to me, and I often bless all novelists. A surprising number have been read aloud to me, and I like all if moderately good, and if they do not end unhappily—against which a law ought to be passed.
Page 237 - I now think — as a man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
Page 29 - Nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind than Dr. Butler's school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being taught, except a little ancient geography and history. The school as a means- of education to me was simply a blank.
Page 550 - That which we were looking for, and could not find, was a hypothesis respecting the origin of known organic forms, which assumed the operation of no causes but such as could be proved to be actually at work. We wanted, not to pin our faith to that or any other speculation, but to get hold of clear and definite conceptions which could be brought face to face with facts and have their validity tested. The ' Origin ' provided us with the working hypothesis we sought.
Page 285 - But then with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind...