Evolution Quote by Paul Quarrington
““One reason might be that if I hadn't tripped, I'd have been hamburger. When this sort of thing occurs, people often say that there was some power greater than themselves at work. This sounds reasonable. I am just suggesting that it is not necessary to equate "greater than ourselves" with "stretched across the heavenly vault." It could mean "just slightly greater." A cocoon of energy that we carry with us, that is capable, under some conditions, of affecting physicality. Furthermore, I conjecture that the totality of all these souls is what constitutes the Godhead. I mean this in the same sense as the "Leviathan" of Thomas Hobbes, whereby man, that is everyone together, creates "that great Leviathan called a Commonwealth or State, which is but an artificial man, though of greater statute and strength than the natural, for whose protection and defense it was created." And that leads me to my Insight: God was not there at the beginning of evolution; God is what lies at the end of it.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: Unknown source, possibly personal essay, 1990s
The author suggests that divinity may be an emergent collective consciousness, not a pre‑existing creator, and that God is the culmination of evolution rather than its origin.
In simple terms: God is the end result of evolution, not its beginning.
Key Takeaway
Consider humanity’s collective role in shaping meaning.
Themes
philosophy
theology
evolution
collective consciousness
Mood
contemplative
inquisitive
Type
philosophical
theological
When to use this quote
- Debates on religion
- scientific discussions
- personal reflection on purpose
Key Concepts
Emergentism
Leviathan metaphor
panpsychism
Questions to Reflect On
- What does it mean for humanity to become divine?
- Can evolution alone explain spiritual experience?
A Different Perspective
It may overlook individual agency and the mystery of consciousness.
![“About Thomas Hobbes: He was 40 years old before he looked on geometry; which happened accidentally. Being in a gentleman's library, Euclid's Elements lay open, and "twas the 47 El. libri I" [Pythagoras' Theorem]. He read the proposition "By God", sayd he, "this is impossible:" So he reads the…” quote by John Aubrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d43/john-aubrey-29611_convinced_about-thomas-hobbes-he-was-40-years-old_1668279.jpg)
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
