Named source · 1859

On the Origin of Species Quotes by Charles Darwin: Context & Meanings

1 quotation linked to On the Origin of Species by or associated with Charles Darwin, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

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There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one;

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“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one;”

Charles Darwin

Meaning & context

Darwin closes the first edition by presenting evolutionary change from simple beginnings as a source of intellectual grandeur rather than diminishment.

Source details

On the Origin of Species, closing paragraph, first-edition wording represented by Project Gutenberg #1228. Later editions inserted “by the Creator” into this sentence; this record deliberately follows the 1859 form and keeps the quotation inside Darwin’s scientific argument about descent with modification.

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