--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The following proposition seems to me in…" description: "\"The following proposition seems to me in a high degree probable—namely, that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, the parent..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/charles-darwin-507_affection_the-following-proposition-seems-to-me-in_1707678.jpg" --- # The following proposition seems to me in a high degree… ![“The following proposition seems to me in a high degree probable—namely, that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, the parental and filial affections being here included, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become…” quote by Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/charles-darwin-507_affection_the-following-proposition-seems-to-me-in_1707678.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/charles-darwin-507_affection_the-following-proposition-seems-to-me-in_1707678.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/charles-darwin-507_affection_the-following-proposition-seems-to-me-in_1707678.jpg) > “The following proposition seems to me in a high degree probable—namely, that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, the parental and filial affections being here included, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as well developed, as in man. For, firstly, the social instincts lead an animal to take pleasure in the society of its fellows, to feel a certain amount of sympathy with them, and to perform various services for them.” [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. Animals with strong social instincts and sufficient intellect are likely to develop a sense of morality similar to humans. **In simple terms:** Social animals with brains may gain conscience. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy and social bonds. Themes social behavior morality evolution empathy Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - education - animal welfare - community building - leadership - teamwork Key Concepts instincts conscience intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How do social bonds shape ethical behavior? - Can non‑human animals truly experience conscience? A Different Perspective Moral sense may require cultural reinforcement, not just biology. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Filial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filial/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Instincts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instincts/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Parental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parental/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [Ultimately a highly complex sentiment, having its first origin in the social instincts, largely guided by the approbation of our fellow-men, ruled by reason,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/ultimately-a-highly-complex-sentiment-having-its-first-origin-in-the/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Even the humblest mammal's strong sexual, parental, and social instincts give rise to 'do unto others as yourself' and 'love thy neighbor as thyself'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/even-the-humblest-mammal-s-strong-sexual-parental-and-social/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Looking to future generations, there is no cause to fear that the social instincts will grow weaker... the social instincts, - the prime principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/looking-to-future-generations-there-is-no-cause-to-fear-that-the/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities connected with the social instincts which in us would be called moral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/besides-love-and-sympathy-animals-exhibit-other-qualities-connected/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [As man advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/as-man-advances-in-civilization-and-small-tribes-are-united-into/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [... professing myself moreover convinced that the general's unjust interference, so far from being really injurious to their felicity, was perhaps rather conducive to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/professing-myself-moreover-convinced-that-the-general-s-unjust/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [I leave it to be settled, by whomsoever it may concern, whether the tendency of this work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-leave-it-to-be-settled-by-whomsoever-it-may-concern-whether-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“There is no conflict between the individual and the social instincts, any more than there is between the heart and the lungs: the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-riggle/there-is-no-conflict-between-the-individual-and-the-social-instincts/) Nick Riggle > [Of all the differences between man and the lower animals, the moral sense or conscience is by far the most important. This sense, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/of-all-the-differences-between-man-and-the-lower-animals-the-moral-2/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Of all the differences between man and the lower animals, the moral sense or conscience is by far the most important . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/of-all-the-differences-between-man-and-the-lower-animals-the-moral/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“like the social instincts of chimps, those of humans were adapted only for small intimate groups. When the group grew too large, its social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/like-the-social-instincts-of-chimps-those-of-humans-were-adapted-only/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I fully subscribe to the judgement of those writers who maintain that of all the differences between man and the lower animal, the moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-fully-subscribe-to-the-judgement-of-those-writers-who-maintain-that/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“The individual and social instincts,—the one a most potent factor for individual endeavor, for growth, aspiration, self-realization; the other an equally potent factor for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-individual-and-social-instincts-the-one-a-most-potent-factor-for/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [I could express my feelings more easily if they could be put into the notes of music, but as the very best concert would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/i-could-express-my-feelings-more-easily-if-they-could-be-put-into-the/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [One who was born in the house of a warrior, regardless of his rank or class, first acquaints himself with a man of military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takeda-shingen/one-who-was-born-in-the-house-of-a-warrior-regardless-of-his-rank-or/) [Takeda Shingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takeda-shingen/) ## 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 Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. 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