Quotation
Last reviewed:
“There is grandeur in this view of life.”
Charles Darwin · Thinkers beyond philosophy · Modern · 1859
What does it mean?
There is grandeur in this view of life. The view is descent with modification, from a few forms or one, into endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful. He is closing a scientific book, not offering a consolation prize for the loss of a particular theology, though he knows what the loss feels like. A rival reading hears vague uplift, a poster for nature. The grandeur is specific. It depends on the view the book has argued, including extinction and struggle, which are not beautiful in the postcard sense.
Did Charles Darwin really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. Darwin's English, the opening of the final paragraph of the 1859 Origin. The grandeur is the view of life, with its powers, having been breathed into a few forms or one, and evolved into endless forms most beautiful. The card quotes the clause people know. The paragraph is the view.
Where it comes from
On the Origin of Species, final paragraph (1859)
Approximate date: 1859.
How to use it
A lesson in a school in York reaches natural selection and stops at 'survival', which is not even his phrase. The final paragraph is the corrective, and it includes death. Grandeur with the struggle cut out is the poster. Grandeur with the struggle left in is the book. Pupils can be shown the difference in one page, which is more useful than a century of slides about responsiveness.
A mindset reading
The 1859 wording matters. Later editions change the last sentence's theology, including the famous 'breath of the Creator' debates. If you need a page, name the edition. The grandeur clause is stable enough to quote. The clauses around it are not stable enough to ignore.
Understand the philosophy
The Origin of Species, last paragraph. He is a naturalist. The sentence is in this library because philosophical gloom and fake business-Darwinism both trade on his name. The paragraph is the primary source for the tone he actually chose.
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FAQ
What does it mean?
There is grandeur in this view of life. The view is descent with modification, from a few forms or one, into endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful. He is closing a scientific book, not offering a consolation prize for the loss of a particular theology, though he knows what the loss feels like. A rival reading hears vague uplift, a poster for nature. The grandeur is specific. It depends on the view the book has argued, including extinction and struggle, which are not beautiful in the postcard sense.
Did Charles Darwin really say this?
Well attested. Darwin's English, the opening of the final paragraph of the 1859 Origin. The grandeur is the view of life, with its powers, having been breathed into a few forms or one, and evolved into endless forms most beautiful. The card quotes the clause people know. The paragraph is the view.
Which work is it in?
On the Origin of Species, final paragraph (1859) Approximate date: 1859.