I discovered that the pleasure of observing and reasoning was a much higher one than that of skill and sport.
In plain words
Watching and wondering turned out to be his favorite game of all.
Where these words come from
- 85% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Darwin's own Autobiography (written 1876, full text published 1958) — Wikiquote Sourced.
- Autobiography (written 1876)
- 1876
More from Charles Darwin
See allIt may turn out a mare’s nest, but I have often incidentally observed curious facts when making what I call “a fool’s experiment”.
Charles DarwinI have steadily endeavoured to keep my mind free so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved (and I cannot resist forming one on every subject), as soon as facts are shown to be opposed to it.Charles DarwinDelight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest.Charles DarwinA most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the shady parts of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud, that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred yards from the shore; yet within the recesses of the forest a universal silence appears to reign.Charles DarwinIt is easy to specify the individual objects of admiration in these grand scenes; but it is not possible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, astonishment, and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind.Charles DarwinThus do we see the soft and gelatinous body of a polypus, through the agency of the vital laws, conquering the great mechanical power of the waves of an ocean which neither the art of man nor the inanimate works of nature could successfully resist.Charles Darwin
Charles DarwinI have steadily endeavoured to keep my mind free so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved (and I cannot resist forming one on every subject), as soon as facts are shown to be opposed to it.Charles DarwinDelight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest.Charles DarwinA most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the shady parts of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud, that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred yards from the shore; yet within the recesses of the forest a universal silence appears to reign.Charles DarwinIt is easy to specify the individual objects of admiration in these grand scenes; but it is not possible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, astonishment, and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind.Charles DarwinThus do we see the soft and gelatinous body of a polypus, through the agency of the vital laws, conquering the great mechanical power of the waves of an ocean which neither the art of man nor the inanimate works of nature could successfully resist.Charles DarwinMore on curiosity
Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.
PlatoI don't study to know more, but to ignore less.
Sor Juana Inés de la CruzThere are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
William ShakespeareWe live in a beautiful and wonderful world, and the more you know about it the wiser and the better you will be.
Louisa May AlcottThese are times in which a genius would wish to live.
Abigail AdamsPhilosophy is the microscope of the thought.
Victor Hugo
PlatoI don't study to know more, but to ignore less.Sor Juana Inés de la CruzThere are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.William ShakespeareWe live in a beautiful and wonderful world, and the more you know about it the wiser and the better you will be.Louisa May AlcottThese are times in which a genius would wish to live.Abigail AdamsPhilosophy is the microscope of the thought.Victor Hugo