All the evolution we know of proceeds from the vague to the definite.
quote by Charles Sanders Peirce
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
The more specific idea of Evolution now reached is - a change from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, accompanying the dissipation of motion and integration of matter.
quote by Herbert Spencer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
So it is with minds. Unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them, they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination. ..And there is no mad or idle fancy that they do no bring forth in the agitation.
quote by Michel de Montaigne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Vagueness: The Letter
I was angry
and high.
anger is always high.
-When I brake all my rules and standards.-
I wrote
a vague
letter
to Eileen,
i was vague,
my anger was vague,
as well as the words,
the comma, and the vague spacing between the dots.
I should be simple
in writing
all my letters to her.
the vagueness should be left to the ink.
poem by Atef Ayadi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
We are so arrogant, we forget that we are not the reason for evolution, we are not the point of evolution. We are part of evolution. Unfortunately, we believe that we've been created to dominate the planet, to dominate nature. Ain't true.
quote by Ted Danson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Do definite good; first of all to yourself, then to definite persons.
quote by John Lancaster Spalding
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Do definite good first of all to yourself, then to definite persons.
quote by John Lancaster Spalding
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Sehnsucht
Whence are ye, vague desires,
Which carry men along,
However proud and strong;
Which, having ruled to-day,
To-morrow pass away?
Whence are ye, vague desires?
Whence are ye?
Which women, yielding to,
Find still so good and true;
So true, so good to-day,
To-morrow gone away.
Whence are ye, vague desires?
Whence are ye?
From seats of bliss above,
Where angels sing of love;
From subtle airs around,
Or from the vulgar ground,
Whence are ye, vague desires?
Whence are ye?
A message from the blest,
Or bodily unrest;
A call to heavenly good,
A fever in the blood
What are ye, vague desires?
What are ye?
Which men who know you best
Are proof against the least,
And rushing on to-day,
To-morrow cast away.
What are ye, vague desires?
What are ye?
Which women, ever new,
Still warned, surrender to;
Adored with you to-day,
Then cast with you away,
What are ye, vague desires?
What are ye?
Which unto boyhood’s heart
The force of man impart,
And pass, and leave it cold,
And prematurely old,
What are ye, vague desires?
What are ye?
Which, tremblingly confest,
Pour in the young girl’s breast
Joy, joy, the like is none,
And leave her then undone,
What are ye, vague desires?
What are ye?
Ah yet! though man be marred,
Ignoble made, and hard;
Though broken women lie
In anguish down to die;
Ah yet! ye vague desires,
Ah yet!
By Him who gave you birth,
And blended you with earth,
Was some good end designed
For man and womankind;
Ah yet! ye vague desires,
Ah yet!
The petals of to-day,
To-morrow fallen away,
Shall something leave instead,
To live when they are dead;
When you, ye vague desires,
Have vanished;
A something to survive,
Of you though it derive
Apparent earthly birth,
But of far other worth
Than you, ye vague desires,
Than you.
poem by Arthur Hugh Clough
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
Our tradition of political thought had its definite beginning in the teachings of Plato and Aristotle. I believe it came to a no less definite end in the theories of Karl Marx.
quote by Hannah Arendt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
When you have shot and killed a man you have in some measure clarified your attitude toward him. You have given a definite answer to a definite problem. For better or worse you have acted decisively. In a way, the next move is up to him.
quote by R.A. Lafferty
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Like The Ballet....
(for Bayoy R.)
and so as Darwin was not as
definite as his evolution what shape to take
what course of follow
Bayoy is caught is a disarray
whether to split or not
as she tiptoes in the house of
his father-in-law as all in-laws
look at her
frightened what to do for the rest of
this dramatic life
she finally says
with or without a home somewhere
i will take the kids with me
because living in the house
of suspicion
is just like learning the lessons
of ballet.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Learn to limit yourself, to content yourself with some definite thing, and some definite work; dare to be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not and to believe in your own individuality.
quote by Henri-Frederic Amiel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Learn to limit yourself, to content yourself with some definite thing, and some definite work dare to be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not and to believe in your own individuality.
quote by Henri-Frederic Amiel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next 1000 years, & exhaust it. How sweet to think of! My extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it — for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
quote by Henry David Thoreau
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
I am grateful for what I am & have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next 1000 years, & exhaust it. How sweet to think of! My extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my
bank can drain it — for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
quote by Henry David Thoreau
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
Evolution is fascinating to watch. To me it is the most interesting when one can observe the evolution of a single man.
quote by Shana Alexander
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
In fact, death seems to have been a rather late invention in evolution. One can go a long way in evolution before encountering an authentic corpse.
quote by George Wald
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I hold that the propositions embodied in natural science are not derived by any definite rule from the data of experience, and that they can neither be verified nor falsified by experience according to any definite rule.
quote by Michael Polanyi
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Cruci-Fiction In Space
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
if Christ was in Texas
the hammer
the sickle
the only son
this is your creation
the atom of Eden
was a bomb
if Jack was the Baptist
we'd drink wine
from the head
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
I am a revolution
pull my knuckles down
if I could
I am a revelation
and I'm nailed
to the Holy Wood
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
we are dead and tomorrow's canceled
because of things we did yesterday
we are dead and tomorrow's canceled
they crucify us in our space
in our space
in our space
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
flies are waiting
song performed by by Marilyn Manson from Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
If we turn to palaeontology to tell us about our biological evolution it is to prehistory that we look for evidence of the evolution of specifically human patterns of behaviour.
quote by John G. D. Clark
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
It has become evident that the primary lesson of the study of evolution is that all evolution is coevolution: every organism is evolving in tandem with the organisms around it.
quote by Kevin Kelly
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!