Aimless Quote by Thomas Huxley
![“[ Responding to the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce's question whether he traced his descent from an ape on his mother's or his father's side ] A man has no reason to be ashamed of having an ape for his grandfather. If there were an ancestor whom I should feel shame in recalling it would…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6af/thomas-huxley-1183_aimless_responding-to-the-bishop-of-oxford-samue_650661.jpg)
““[ Responding to the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce's question whether he traced his descent from an ape on his mother's or his father's side ] A man has no reason to be ashamed of having an ape for his grandfather. If there were an ancestor whom I should feel shame in recalling it would rather be a man —a man of restless and versatile intellect—who … plunges into scientific questions with which he has no real acquaintance, only to obscure them by an aimless rhetoric, and distract the attention of his hearers from the real point at issue by eloquent digressions and skilled appeals to religious prejudice.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Responding to the Bishop of Oxford, 1860
Intellectual humility is essential; shame should be reserved for pretentiousness, not for natural ancestry.
In simple terms: Be humble about knowledge, not ashamed of origins.
Key Takeaway
Value honest inquiry over pretentious rhetoric.
Themes
science
humility
religion
intellectual honesty
Mood
thoughtful
critical
Type
philosophical
historical
When to use this quote
- academic debate
- public lecture
- media interview
- education reform
Key Concepts
epistemic humility
scientific integrity
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance humility with confidence?
- When is it appropriate to challenge authority?
A Different Perspective
Overemphasis on humility can stifle confidence.
![“Don't liken me to that [SOB]. Anybody that lets his public policies be mixed up with religious prejudice is a plain [GD] fool.” quote by Huey Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ed4/huey-long-18052_fool_don-t-liken-me-to-that-sob-anybody-that_353235.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)
