--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would give absolutely nothing for the…" description: "\"I would give absolutely nothing for the theory of Natural Selection, if it requires miraculous additions at any one stage of descent.\" — Charles Darwin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/charles-darwin-507_absolutely-nothing_i-would-give-absolutely-nothing-for-the_3184954.jpg" --- # I would give absolutely nothing for the theory of Natural… ![“I would give absolutely nothing for the theory of Natural Selection, if it requires miraculous additions at any one stage of descent.” quote by Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/charles-darwin-507_absolutely-nothing_i-would-give-absolutely-nothing-for-the_3184954.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/charles-darwin-507_absolutely-nothing_i-would-give-absolutely-nothing-for-the_3184954.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/charles-darwin-507_absolutely-nothing_i-would-give-absolutely-nothing-for-the_3184954.jpg) > “I would give absolutely nothing for the theory of Natural Selection, if it requires miraculous additions at any one stage of descent.” [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Darwin argues that natural selection must be a gradual, non-miraculous process without sudden, unexplained jumps. **In simple terms:** Evolution works step by step, not by miracles. Key Takeaway Accept gradual change over time. Themes evolution science philosophy Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - biology education - debates on creationism - policy making - public understanding of science Key Concepts natural selection gradualism Questions to Reflect On - How do we test gradual changes? - What evidence supports stepwise evolution? A Different Perspective If selection is not gradual, the theory loses explanatory power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutely nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutely-nothing/) [Descent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descent/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Miraculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miraculous/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Natural selection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-selection/) [Requires Miraculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/requires-miraculous-5850568/) [Selection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selection/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Theory Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-natural-1097003/) ## Related quotes > [On the theory of natural selection we can clearly understand the full meaning of that old canon in natural history, “Natura non facit saltum.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/on-the-theory-of-natural-selection-we-can-clearly-understand-the-full/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Natural Selection is not Evolution. 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The devil under form of Baboon is our grandfather. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/our-descent-then-is-the-origin-of-our-evil-passions-the-devil-under/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## More by Charles Darwin > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The main conclusion here arrived at ... is that man is descended from some less highly organized form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-main-conclusion-here-arrived-at-is-that-man-is-descended-from/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/so-great-is-the-economy-of-nature-that-most-flowers-which-are/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-see-no-good-reasons-why-the-views-given-in-this-volume-should-shock/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science…It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-am-quite-conscious-that-my-speculations-run-beyond-the-bounds-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [If worms have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and over their burrows, as seems the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/if-worms-have-the-power-of-acquiring-some-notion-however-rude-of-the/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universes, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-can-allow-satellites-planets-suns-universe-nay-whole-systems-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of the Beagle, when I could take only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/formerly-milton-s-paradise-lost-had-been-my-chief-favourite-and-in-my/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [May we not suspect that the vague but very real fears of children, which are quite independent of experience, are the inherited effects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/may-we-not-suspect-that-the-vague-but-very-real-fears-of-children/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-may-be-said-that-natural-selection-is-daily-and-hourly/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“Darwin, landing in Brazil in 1832, had a similar reaction, colored by his reading of his predecessor." Humboldt's glorious descriptions are & will for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/darwin-landing-in-brazil-in-1832-had-a-similar-reaction-colored-by/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [...all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/all-nature-is-perverse-will-not-do-as-i-wish-it/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“To admit that species generally become rare before they become extinct—to feel no surprise at the comparative rarity of one species with another, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-admit-that-species-generally-become-rare-before-they-become/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-interesting-to-contemplate-an-entangled-bank-clothed-with-many/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) [Explore all 497 Charles Darwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## More Absolutely nothing quotes > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Amateur psychiatric prognosis can be fascinating when there is absolutely nothing else to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-condon/amateur-psychiatric-prognosis-can-be-fascinating-when-there-is/) [Richard Condon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-condon/) > [I am unusual for a Frenchman - I have absolutely nothing against the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-hazanavicius/i-am-unusual-for-a-frenchman-i-have-absolutely-nothing-against-the/) [Michel Hazanavicius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-hazanavicius/) > [I know quickly whether a guy is boyfriend material. If I can have a good time doing absolutely nothing with him, then that's boyfriend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-hannigan/i-know-quickly-whether-a-guy-is-boyfriend-material-if-i-can-have-a/) [Alyson Hannigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-hannigan/) > [I cannot conceive of music that expresses absolutely nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-bartok/i-cannot-conceive-of-music-that-expresses-absolutely-nothing/) [Bela Bartok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-bartok/) > [Well, I've got nothing to hide. Absolutely nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/well-i-ve-got-nothing-to-hide-absolutely-nothing/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-caddy/expect-the-most-wonderful-things-to-happen-not-in-the-future-but/) [Eileen Caddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-caddy/) > [There is no reason not to love. There is no reason not to be joyous. There is no reason not to celebrate because all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-no-reason-not-to-love-there-is-no-reason-not-to-be-joyous/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Here is something no real celebrity will ever tell you: film acting is not very fun. 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