All Quotes

"Animals whom we have made our slaves we do not like to consider our equals. — Do not slave holders wish to make the black man other kind? — animals with affections, imitation, fear of death, pain, sorrow for the dead. — respect."

"Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work worthy the interposition of a deity. More humble, and I believe truer, to consider him created from animals."

"There is one living spirit prevalent over this world, (subject to certain contingencies of organic matter & chiefly heat), which assumes a multitude of forms each having acting principle according to subordinate laws. — There is one thinking sensible principle, intimately allied to one kind of organic matter—have & which thinking principle seems to be given a assumed according to a more extended relations of the individuals, whereby choice with memory or reason? is necessary—which is modified into endless forms bearing a close relation in degree & kind to the endless forms of the living beings."

""I sometimes think that general and popular treatises are almost as important for the progress of science as original work”"

"We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universe to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to be created at once by special act … Our faculties are more fitted to recognize the wonderful structure of a beetle than a Universe."

"What a book a Devil’s chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low, and horridly cruel works of nature!"

"I am quite conscious that my speculations run quite beyond the bounds of true science. … I inferred that genera & Families with very few species (i.e. from Extinction) would be apt (not necessarily always) to have narrow ranges & disjoined ranges. You will not perceive, perhaps, what I am driving at & it is not worth enlarging on, — but I look at Extinction as common cause of small genera & disjoined ranges & therefore they ought, if they behaved properly & as nature does not lie to go together!"

"Alas! A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections — a mere heart of stone."

"I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent & omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidæ with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice."

"Physiological experiment on animals is justifiable for real investigation; but not for mere damnable and detestable curiosity."

"I would suggest to you the advantage, at present, of being very sparing in introducing theory in your papers (I formerly erred much in Geology in that way): let theory guide your observations, but till your reputation is well established be sparing in publishing theory. It makes persons doubt your observations. How rarely R. Brown ever indulged in theory: too seldom perhaps! Do not work too hard, and do not be discouraged because your work is not appreciated by the majority."

"Owen says my book will be forgotten in 10 years; perhaps so, but, with such a list [of prestigious scientific supporters], I feel convinced that the subject will not."

"The sight of a feather in a peacock’s tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!"

"It is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life; one might as well think of origin of matter. —"

"I think it can be shown that there is such an unerring power at work in Natural Selection (the title of my book), which selects exclusively for the good of each organic being."

"About thirty years ago there was much talk that geologists ought only to observe and not theorise; and I well remember some one saying that at this rate a man might as well go into a gravel-pit and count the pebbles and describe the colours. How odd it is that anyone should not see that all observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service!"

"It seems to me absurd to doubt that a man may be an ardent Theist & an evolutionist. … I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God."

"Dear Roberta Sparrow, I've reached the end of your book and there are so many questions that I need to ask you. Sometimes I am afraid of what you might tell me. Sometimes I am afraid this is not a work of fiction. I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to."

"If the sky were to suddenly open up... there would be no law... there would be no rule. There would only be you and your memories... the choices you've made and the people you've touched. The life that has been carved out from your subconscious is the only evidence by which you will be judged... by which you must judge yourself. Because when this world ends, there will only be you and him... and no one else."

"Some people are just born with tragedy in their blood."

"What if you could go back in time and take all those hours of pain and darkness and replace them with something better?"

"Okay, now girls... I want you to concentrate. Failure is not an option. And Bethany, if you feel the need to vomit up there... just swallow it."

"The children have to save themselves these days because the parents have no clue."

"[to Principal Cole] I don't think that you have a clue what it's like to communicate with these kids. And we are losing them to apathy, to this prescribed nonsense. They are slipping away."

"I-I know I'm not the best communicator, but... whatever happens to you, be honest, tell the truth, even if they do look at you funny. They will. But what you gotta understand, Son, is that almost all of those people are full of shit. [laughs] They're all part of this great big conspiracy of bullshit. And they're scared of people like you, because those bullshitters know that you're smarter than all of them. You know what you say to people like that? Hmm? "Fuck you.""

"Every living creature on this earth dies alone."

"Life is one long insane trip. Some people just have better directions."

"You can never go too far."

"What would you do if you knew the future?"

"Be Afraid of the Dark."

"Dark. Darker. Darko."

"Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?"

"Why are you looking at me?"

"The only way to unwind the future is to follow the path."

"Cellar Door."

"They Made Me Do It."

"Jake Gyllenhaal - Donnie Darko"

"Maggie Gyllenhaal - Elizabeth Darko"

"Jena Malone - Gretchen Ross"

"Beth Grant - Kitty Farmer"

"Drew Barrymore - Karen Pomeroy"

"Patrick Swayze - Jim Cunningham"

"Mary McDonnell - Rose Darko"

"Holmes Osborne - Eddie Darko"

"Daveigh Chase - Samantha Darko"

"Noah Wyle - Prof. Kennth Monnitoff"

"Katharine Ross - Dr. Lillian Thurman"

"James Duval - Frank"

"We really haven't slept much in eleven years. Larry [Gelbart] used to stay up all night writing us scripts the night before we began shooting; I've done it a number of times. … M*A*S*H has changed my life. It's given me the chance to develop as a writer and a director—and as an actor. … I've learned to work with people in … a creative way that I really never knew before and didn't know was possible. We've all learned that; we've all grown as people and as professionals, as artists. … We're stopping because … we feel that if we went further we would risk squeezing it dry, not being able to give it our best …. [F]rom the beginning, Gene Reynolds and Larry Gelbart encouraged the actors each week to comment on the script, and we'd go through it take by take …. [W]e worked all night to get it as good as we could."

"I'm always astounded by the number of cameras that point at us when we talk about this show, and by the amount of interest. And I'm astounded by the breadth and depth of the [reach] that television is capable of, evidenced by the telegrams that were read at the beginning of this conference, [from] Secretary Kissinger and President Ford and President Reagan. It moves me to the realization that television is a great medium for bringing people together, because that's probably the [only] time I will ever agree with any of the three of them."