--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It now seems plain to me that that theory…" description: "\"It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one...the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/mark-twain-22_animal_it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theor_1115765.png" --- # It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be… ![“It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one...the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/mark-twain-22_animal_it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theor_1115765.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/mark-twain-22_animal_it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theor_1115765.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/mark-twain-22_animal_it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theor_1115765.png) > “It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one...the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that an outdated theory should be replaced by a newer, more accurate understanding of human evolution. **In simple terms:** Old ideas need updating with better ones. Key Takeaway Embrace new evidence. Themes science progress evolution Mood inquisitive optimistic Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - education reform - public policy - personal belief systems Key Concepts empiricism paradigm shift philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What new evidence supports this shift? - How do we test new theories? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex scientific debates. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Ascent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ascent/) [Descent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descent/) [Favors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favors/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Ought Vacated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought-vacated-2994576/) [Plain Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plain-theory-2994577/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Theory Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-ought-2994575/) [Truer Descent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truer-descent-2994578/) ## Related quotes > [I have been scientifically studying the traits and dispositions of the "lower animals" (so-called,) and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-been-scientifically-studying-the-traits-and-dispositions-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [No one should deny the danger of the descent, but it can be risked. No one need risk it, but it is certain that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-one-should-deny-the-danger-of-the-descent-but-it-can-be-risked-no/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [When we trust ourselves, ascents become descents, difficulties turn into easinesses, rocks transform into sands and swords into melting candles!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-we-trust-ourselves-ascents-become-descents-difficulties-turn/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [My individual, psychological descent coincided, ironically, with my ascent into the public eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/my-individual-psychological-descent-coincided-ironically-with-my/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Christ is at once the spotless descent of God into men and the sinless ascent of man into God, and the Holy Spirit is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-g-lake/christ-is-at-once-the-spotless-descent-of-god-into-men-and-the/) [John G. Lake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-g-lake/) > [The descent into the depths always seems to precede the ascent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-descent-into-the-depths-always-seems-to-precede-the-ascent/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“THE DESCENT SEEMED faster than the ascent: standard in travel as well as in life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-kellerman/the-descent-seemed-faster-than-the-ascent-standard-in-travel-as-well/) [Faye Kellerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-kellerman/) > [Every worthy act is difficult. Ascent is always difficult. Descent is easy and often slippery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/every-worthy-act-is-difficult-ascent-is-always-difficult-descent-is/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [There is a descent from God through the world to animals, and an ascent from animals through the world to God. He is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/there-is-a-descent-from-god-through-the-world-to-animals-and-an/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [We cannot find God without God. We cannot reach God without God. We cannot satisfy God without God - which is another way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/we-cannot-find-god-without-god-we-cannot-reach-god-without-god-we/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Hope changes everything. It changes winter into summer, darkness into dawn, descent into ascent, barrenness into creativity, agony into joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/hope-changes-everything-it-changes-winter-into-summer-darkness-into/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [The descent beckons as the ascent beckoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/the-descent-beckons-as-the-ascent-beckoned/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [The descent into matter must be complete before the ascent to spirit can commence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dion-fortune/the-descent-into-matter-must-be-complete-before-the-ascent-to-spirit/) [Dion Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dion-fortune/) > [“The beginning of Christendom, is, strictly, at a point out of time. A metphysical trigonometry finds it among the spiritual Secrets, at the meeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-beginning-of-christendom-is-strictly-at-a-point-out-of-time-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [there is no ascent to the heights without prior descent into darkness, no new life without some form of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-without-prior-descent-into-darkness/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one...the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theory-ought-to-be-vacated-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theory-ought-to-be-vacated-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/mark-twain-22_animal_it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theor_1115765.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/mark-twain-22_animal_it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theor_1115765.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/mark-twain-22_animal_it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theor_1115765.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one...the Descent…” — Mark Twain", "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": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It now seems plain to me...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theory-ought-to-be-vacated-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theory-ought-to-be-vacated-in/#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 } } ] } ```