--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is more courageous, pugnacious, and…" description: "\"Man is more courageous, pugnacious, and energetic than woman, and has a more inventive genius. His brain is absolutely larger, but whether relatively t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/charles-darwin-507_age_man-is-more-courageous-pugnacious-and-en_686397.jpg" --- # Man is more courageous, pugnacious, and energetic than… ![“Man is more courageous, pugnacious, and energetic than woman, and has a more inventive genius. His brain is absolutely larger, but whether relatively to the larger size of his body, in comparison with that of woman, has not, I believe been fully ascertained. In woman the face is rounder; the jaws…” quote by Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/charles-darwin-507_age_man-is-more-courageous-pugnacious-and-en_686397.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/charles-darwin-507_age_man-is-more-courageous-pugnacious-and-en_686397.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e5/charles-darwin-507_age_man-is-more-courageous-pugnacious-and-en_686397.jpg) > “Man is more courageous, pugnacious, and energetic than woman, and has a more inventive genius. His brain is absolutely larger, but whether relatively to the larger size of his body, in comparison with that of woman, has not, I believe been fully ascertained. In woman the face is rounder; the jaws and the base of the skull smaller; the outlines of her body rounder, in parts more prominent; and her pelvis is broader than in man; but this latter character may perhaps be considered rather as a primary than a secondary sexual character. She comes to maturity at an earlier age than man.” [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 compares male and female anatomy, suggesting differences in size and development but noting uncertainty about their functional significance. **In simple terms:** He notes physical differences between sexes but admits uncertainty about their impact. Key Takeaway Acknowledge biological differences while recognizing their limited explanatory power. Themes biology sex differences evolution science uncertainty Mood analytical critical Type scientific historical When to use this quote - medical research - educational curricula - policy discussions on gender Key Concepts sexual dimorphism developmental timing evolutionary theory Questions to Reflect On - How do we separate biological facts from cultural interpretations? - What evidence would clarify the functional relevance of these differences? A Different Perspective Biological explanations can be misused to justify social inequality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Courageous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courageous/) [Energetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energetic/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Maturity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maturity/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [It is really laughable to see what different ideas are prominent in various naturalists' minds, when they speak of 'species'; in some, resemblance is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-really-laughable-to-see-what-different-ideas-are-prominent-in/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. —ABRAHAM LINCOLN As”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nearly-all-men-can-stand-adversity-but-if-you-want-to-test-a-man-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A man's character is only formed after the impressions of childhood and early youth have become blended with the indefinable and hidden influences both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikl-s-b-nffy/a-man-s-character-is-only-formed-after-the-impressions-of-childhood/) [Miklós Bánffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikl-s-b-nffy/) > [Judge a man's character by what he finds ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/judge-a-man-s-character-by-what-he-finds-ridiculous/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [To have a right estimate of a man's character, we must see him in misfortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/to-have-a-right-estimate-of-a-man-s-character-we-must-see-him-in/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“There is a very great difference — is there not? — between the temporal and the eternal judgments, a very great difference between a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/price-collier/there-is-a-very-great-difference-is-there-not-between-the-temporal/) Price Collier > [“The strength of a man is in his character. A strong man is a great man of wisdom who understands, his top priority is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-j-barrier/the-strength-of-a-man-is-in-his-character-a-strong-man-is-a-great-man/) [Ellen J. Barrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-j-barrier/) > [It is not true that drink changes a man's character. It may reveal it more clearly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-osborne/it-is-not-true-that-drink-changes-a-man-s-character-it-may-reveal-it/) [John Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-osborne/) > [A man's character is not judged after he celebrates a victory, but by what he does when his back is against the wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cena/a-man-s-character-is-not-judged-after-he-celebrates-a-victory-but-by/) [John Cena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cena/) > [The voice is not only indicative of man's character, but it is the expression of his spirit. Other sounds can be louder than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/the-voice-is-not-only-indicative-of-man-s-character-but-it-is-the/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [“In matters of the heart and endings, a man's character is defined not by the act of parting ways with a woman but by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-apetsi/in-matters-of-the-heart-and-endings-a-man-s-character-is-defined-not/) [Emmanuel Apetsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-apetsi/) > [If a man has character, he has also his typical experience, which always recurs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-a-man-has-character-he-has-also-his-typical-experience-which/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I never really thought of myself as being an action hero or a leading man or any of that. I'm a character actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-paul/i-never-really-thought-of-myself-as-being-an-action-hero-or-a-leading/) [Aaron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-paul/) > [It is the property of things seen for the first time, or for the first time after long, like the flowers in spring, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/it-is-the-property-of-things-seen-for-the-first-time-or-for-the-first/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [Every man's own character is written so all who will may read it, in the expression of his eyes, the tone of his voice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/every-man-s-own-character-is-written-so-all-who-will-may-read-it-in/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) ## 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 Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man is more courageous, pugnacious, and energetic than woman, and has a more inventive genius. His brain is absolutely larger, but whether relatively to the larger size of his body, in comparison with that of woman, has not, I believe been fully ascertained. In woman the face is rounder; the jaws and the base of the skull smaller; the outlines of her body rounder, in parts more prominent; and her pelvis is broader than in man; but this latter character may perhaps be considered rather as a primary than a secondary sexual character. 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