--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The fossil record quietly accounts for…" description: "\"“The fossil record quietly accounts for me...”\" — Donald Revell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg" --- # The fossil record quietly accounts for me... ![“The fossil record quietly accounts for me...” quote by Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg) > ““The fossil record quietly accounts for me...”” [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects that the fossil record silently bears witness to their existence, suggesting that history records us without acknowledgment. **In simple terms:** History records us without speaking. Key Takeaway Remember your place in the larger timeline. Themes history existence silence Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - scientific study - legacy building Key Concepts memory geology humility Questions to Reflect On - What does being recorded mean to you? - How do you feel about leaving a trace? A Different Perspective It assumes a passive record, ignoring active agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fossil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil/) [Fossil Record](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-record-414115/) [Quietly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quietly/) [Quietly Accounts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quietly-accounts-6034112/) [Record Quietly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/record-quietly-6034113/) ## Related quotes > [“...but I still think that to the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favor of special creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-h-corner/but-i-still-think-that-to-the-unprejudiced-the-fossil-record-of/) [E.J.H. Corner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-j-h-corner/) > [“Every word Martone sets down, finally, a choice that limits the universe, their trail across the page a fossil record of some life's life-story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martone/every-word-martone-sets-down-finally-a-choice-that-limits-the/) [Michael Martone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-martone/) > [The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-extreme-rarity-of-transitional-forms-in-the-fossil-record-2/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [What the fossil record does do is to force us to contemplate our place on the planet. We are but one species of several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-leakey/what-the-fossil-record-does-do-is-to-force-us-to-contemplate-our/) [Louise Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-leakey/) > [Since we proposed punctuated equilibria to explain trends, it is infuriating to be quoted again and again by creationists-whether through design or stupidity, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/since-we-proposed-punctuated-equilibria-to-explain-trends-it-is/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [“The fossil record implies trial and error, an inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with an efficient Great Designer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-error-an-inability-to-anticipate-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The fossil record implies trial and error, an inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with an efficient Great Designer (although not with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-error-an-inability-to-anticipate/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The known fossil record fails to document a single example of phyletic evolution i.e., a species becoming a new species accomplishing a major morphological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-m-stanley/the-known-fossil-record-fails-to-document-a-single-example-of/) [Steven M. Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-m-stanley/) > [“The idea that one can go to the fossil record and expect to empirically recover an ancestor-descendant sequence, be it of species, genera, families,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-j-nelson/the-idea-that-one-can-go-to-the-fossil-record-and-expect-to/) [Gareth J. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-j-nelson/) > [The fossil record is incredible when it preserves things, but it's not a complete record.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-horner/the-fossil-record-is-incredible-when-it-preserves-things-but-it-s-not/) [Jack Horner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-horner/) > [The fossil record contains no trace of these preliminary stages in the development of many-celled organisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jastrow/the-fossil-record-contains-no-trace-of-these-preliminary-stages-in/) [Robert Jastrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jastrow/) > [Darwin's prediction of rampant, albeit gradual, change affecting all lineages through time is refuted. The record is there, and the record speaks for tremendous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/darwin-s-prediction-of-rampant-albeit-gradual-change-affecting-all/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [“The phrase 'the fossil record' sounds impressive and authoritative. As used by some persons it becomes, as intended, intimidating, taking on the aura of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-j-nelson/the-phrase-the-fossil-record-sounds-impressive-and-authoritative-as/) [Gareth J. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-j-nelson/) > [“Each plant and animal is exquisitely made; should not a supremely competent Designer have been able to make the intended variety from the start?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/each-plant-and-animal-is-exquisitely-made-should-not-a-supremely/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [As you know, the fossil record includes not only the ancestors of crocodiles and whales, but also the ancestors of human beings. And this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/as-you-know-the-fossil-record-includes-not-only-the-ancestors-of/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) ## More by Donald Revell > [“The sea has left us but the sun remains”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-sea-has-left-us-but-the-sun-remains/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“In the poetry of attention, poems are not problems.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/in-the-poetry-of-attention-poems-are-not-problems/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“And so it was that I became an anthology piece translated along with many others out of the French into your small arms though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/and-so-it-was-that-i-became-an-anthology-piece-translated-along-with/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“the rest are secrets save for oriole which is a color in the afterlife”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-rest-are-secrets-save-for-oriole-which-is-a-color-in-the-afterlife/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“she shapes her surface lights into the shape of breasts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/she-shapes-her-surface-lights-into-the-shape-of-breasts/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“Creation is the miniature of creation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/creation-is-the-miniature-of-creation/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“Love makes us infamous when love is coldly true”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/love-makes-us-infamous-when-love-is-coldly-true/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“The world has a body and I have none”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-world-has-a-body-and-i-have-none/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“Beauty for Beauty's sake and only later for the sake of others, newborn for a day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/beauty-for-beauty-s-sake-and-only-later-for-the-sake-of-others/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“Some motionless conflict in the sky”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/some-motionless-conflict-in-the-sky/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“the distance fills and nearness is a void”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-distance-fills-and-nearness-is-a-void/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“One life one life and a broken tree it two trees mine a dead branch among the hundred living”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/one-life-one-life-and-a-broken-tree-it-two-trees-mine-a-dead-branch/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“I have caught sight of my true friend rounding the hillside in his cloak of rain”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/i-have-caught-sight-of-my-true-friend-rounding-the-hillside-in-his/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“I have seen a sparrow becoming the world's end”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/i-have-seen-a-sparrow-becoming-the-world-s-end/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) > [“I walk reciting every quiet word I know...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/i-walk-reciting-every-quiet-word-i-know/) [Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) [Explore all 38 Donald Revell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/) ## More Fossil quotes > [Fossil fuels, including oil, are running out and supplies are getting harder to find. If we do nothing, prices will continue to rise and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-powell/fossil-fuels-including-oil-are-running-out-and-supplies-are-getting/) [Lucy Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-powell/) > [Is it philosophical, is it quite allowable, to assume without evidence from fossil plants that the family or any of the genera was once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-gray/is-it-philosophical-is-it-quite-allowable-to-assume-without-evidence/) [Asa Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-gray/) > [No matter what else happens, this is the century in which we must learn to live without fossil fuel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-goodstein/no-matter-what-else-happens-this-is-the-century-in-which-we-must/) [David Goodstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-goodstein/) > [If the world goes crazy for a lovely fossil, that's fine with me. But if that fossil releases some kind of mysterious brain ray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/if-the-world-goes-crazy-for-a-lovely-fossil-that-s-fine-with-me-but/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [“...but I still think that to the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favor of special creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-h-corner/but-i-still-think-that-to-the-unprejudiced-the-fossil-record-of/) [E.J.H. Corner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-j-h-corner/) > [Natural gas is a dirty fossil fuel like the rest of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/natural-gas-is-a-dirty-fossil-fuel-like-the-rest-of-them/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) > [“And then I remember this morning and I wonder if it really happened or if I dreamed it. It was nice. And weird. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-donnelly/and-then-i-remember-this-morning-and-i-wonder-if-it-really-happened/) [Jennifer Donnelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-donnelly/) > [What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/what-can-be-more-soul-shaking-than-peering-through-a-100-inch/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [We all know that we have to get off of fossil fuels. And we know that the world is going in that direction. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/we-all-know-that-we-have-to-get-off-of-fossil-fuels-and-we-know-that/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) > [“There can be no doubt that the existing Fauna and Flora is but the last term of a long series of equally numerous contemporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/there-can-be-no-doubt-that-the-existing-fauna-and-flora-is-but-the/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [There's a lot of wishful thinking that somehow we'll replace fossil fuels with alternative energy sources, but they remain far from reality. We're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/there-s-a-lot-of-wishful-thinking-that-somehow-we-ll-replace-fossil/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [My object will be, first, to show by what connections the history of the fossil bones of land animals is linked to the theory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-cuvier/my-object-will-be-first-to-show-by-what-connections-the-history-of/) [Georges Cuvier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-cuvier/) > [I said that if an alien came to visit, I'd be embarrassed to tell them that we fight wars to pull fossil fuels out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-said-that-if-an-alien-came-to-visit-i-d-be-embarrassed-to-tell-them/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“So here is the trick to designing a new fossil expedition: find rocks that are of the right age, of the right type (sedimentary),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/so-here-is-the-trick-to-designing-a-new-fossil-expedition-find-rocks/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [Any friend of fossil is a friend of mine... We’ve got to do everything we can to get people out of their automobiles and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bloomberg/any-friend-of-fossil-is-a-friend-of-mine-we-ve-got-to-do-everything/) [Michael Bloomberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bloomberg/) [Browse all 93 Fossil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The fossil record quietly accounts for me...”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donald Revell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-me/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fossil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-me/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The fossil record quietly accounts for me...” — Donald Revell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Donald Revell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The fossil record quietly accounts for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-me/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-me/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```