Age Quote by Joseph McCabe
“Evolution throws a wonderful light on all the struggles, eccentricities, tortuous developments of the human conscience in the past. It is the only theory of morals that does. And evolution throws just as much light on the ethical and social struggle today; and it is the only theory that does. What a strange age ours is from the religious point of view! What a hopeless age from the philosopher's point of view! Yet it is a very good age, the best that ever was. No evolutionist is a pessimist.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Evolution and Morality, 1909
Evolution illuminates moral development and social struggles, offering a hopeful, non‑pessimistic view despite religious and philosophical doubts.
In simple terms: Evolution guides ethics.
Key Takeaway
Embrace scientific insight for moral progress.
Themes
evolution
morality
science
philosophy
hope
Mood
inquisitive
hopeful
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- policy making
- education reform
- public discourse
- personal ethics
- cultural analysis
Key Concepts
natural selection
ethical frameworks
human nature
Questions to Reflect On
- How does evolution shape our moral choices?
- Can science and faith coexist in ethics?
A Different Perspective
Religious perspectives may reject scientific explanations.
![“I wish I were younger. What inclines me now to think you may be right in regarding [evolution] as the central and radical lie in the whole web of falsehood that now governs our lives is not so much your arguments against it as the fanatical and twisted attitudes of its defenders.” quote by C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d20/c-s-lewis-2-132_argument_i-wish-i-were-younger-what-inclines-me-n_2372727.jpg)
![“The fundamental religious objection to the theory of evolution is not scientific but moral. [Fundamentalists believe that] evolutionary theory must be opposed because it leads to rampant immorality, on both the personal and political scales. The basic cause of this immorality is atheism.” quote by Elizabeth S. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5a5/elizabeth-s-anderson-79971_atheism_the-fundamental-religious-objection-to-t_1735801.jpg)
