--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are embedded in the great evolutionary…" description: "\"We are embedded in the great evolutionary story of planet Earth, the spare, elegant process of mutation and selection and bricolage. And this means tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/ursula-goodenough-28376_earth_we-are-embedded-in-the-great-evolutionar_3155134.png" --- # We are embedded in the great evolutionary story of planet… ![“We are embedded in the great evolutionary story of planet Earth, the spare, elegant process of mutation and selection and bricolage. And this means that we are anything but alone.” quote by Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/ursula-goodenough-28376_earth_we-are-embedded-in-the-great-evolutionar_3155134.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/ursula-goodenough-28376_earth_we-are-embedded-in-the-great-evolutionar_3155134.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/ursula-goodenough-28376_earth_we-are-embedded-in-the-great-evolutionar_3155134.png) > “We are embedded in the great evolutionary story of planet Earth, the spare, elegant process of mutation and selection and bricolage. And this means that we are anything but alone.” [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human life is part of Earth's ongoing evolutionary process, showing we are not isolated beings. **In simple terms:** We belong to Earth's evolving story. Key Takeaway Recognize our interconnectedness with nature. Themes evolution interconnectedness biology Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - environmental education - science communication - philosophical reflection Key Concepts mutation selection bricolage cosmic perspective Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing ourselves as part of evolution change our responsibilities? - What implications does this view have for environmental stewardship? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Elegant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elegant/) [Embedded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embedded/) [Evolutionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolutionary/) [Evolutionary Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolutionary-story-3448200/) [Great Evolutionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-evolutionary-4795627/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mutation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mutation/) [Planet earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planet-earth/) [Planets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planets/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Selection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selection/) [Spares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spares/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [“Whatever variety evolution brings forth... Every new dimension of world-response...means another modality for God's trying out his hidden essence and discovering himself through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-jonas/whatever-variety-evolution-brings-forth-every-new-dimension-of-world/) [Hans Jonas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-jonas/) > [The most extraordinary thing about trying to piece together the missing links in the evolutionary story is that when you do find a missing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/the-most-extraordinary-thing-about-trying-to-piece-together-the/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [“Flood legends are an excellent confirmation of what we expected to find in a biblical worldview. Consider the converse. In an evolutionary story with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ham/flood-legends-are-an-excellent-confirmation-of-what-we-expected-to/) [Ken Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ham/) > [I was taught over and over again that the accumulation of random mutations led to evolutionary change - led to new species. I believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-margulis/i-was-taught-over-and-over-again-that-the-accumulation-of-random/) [Lynn Margulis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-margulis/) > [“In science's pecking order, evolutionary biology lurks somewhere near the bottom, far closer to phrenology than to physics. For evolutionary biology is a historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-science-s-pecking-order-evolutionary-biology-lurks-somewhere-near/) [Jerry A. 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We use it as almost an active participant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/the-trick-is-how-do-you-talk-about-natural-selection-without-implying/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Innovation is an evolutionary process, so it's not necessary to be radical all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-jacobs/innovation-is-an-evolutionary-process-so-it-s-not-necessary-to-be/) [Marc Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-jacobs/) > [Creativity is the evolutionary impulse in the Universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/creativity-is-the-evolutionary-impulse-in-the-universe/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Evolutionary biology is now uttering and seeking those forces that link us with all those that have being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-forsyth/evolutionary-biology-is-now-uttering-and-seeking-those-forces-that/) [Adrian Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-forsyth/) > [From an evolutionary standpoint you can't just wipe everything out and start over, and I don't think you can do it in the school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/from-an-evolutionary-standpoint-you-can-t-just-wipe-everything-out/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [From the day I got out, it was an evolutionary process. I was sick for, like, two years - that's the best way I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-wright-jr/from-the-day-i-got-out-it-was-an-evolutionary-process-i-was-sick-for/) [Isaac Wright Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-wright-jr/) > [Almost all change is evolutionary, not revolutionary... expectations always travel at higher speeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-naisbitt/almost-all-change-is-evolutionary-not-revolutionary-expectations/) [John Naisbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-naisbitt/) > [Like funny men, skilled diners are apparently perceived to have an evolutionary advantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goodyear/like-funny-men-skilled-diners-are-apparently-perceived-to-have-an/) [Dana Goodyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goodyear/) > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. I see a planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/like-many-other-scientists-who-hold-the-catholic-faith-i-see-the/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) ## More by Ursula Goodenough > [Early humans, bursting with questions about Nature but with limited understanding of its dynamics, explained things in terms of supernatural persons and person-animals who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/early-humans-bursting-with-questions-about-nature-but-with-limited/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The most reliable joy is to be out of doors, to be a creature among other creatures. I find it very restful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-most-reliable-joy-is-to-be-out-of-doors-to-be-a-creature-among/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Human consensus does not generate reality. Were it able to do so, the Sun would have taken to orbiting the Earth some time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-consensus-does-not-generate-reality-were-it-able-to-do-so-the/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Reverence is the sense that there is something larger than the self, larger even than the human, to which one accords respect and awe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/reverence-is-the-sense-that-there-is-something-larger-than-the-self/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Perhaps we should all settle down and think about what's good in the world and what we want to do here. 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By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self-my-self-is-inherently-sacred/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The biochemistry and biophysics are the notes required for life; they conspire, collectively, to generate the real unit of life, the organism. The intermediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-biochemistry-and-biophysics-are-the-notes-required-for-life-they/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Human memory, they say, is like a coat closet: The most enduring outcome of a formal education is that it creates rows of coat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-memory-they-say-is-like-a-coat-closet-the-most-enduring-outcome/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [“Life, we can now say, is getting something to happen against the odds, and remembering how to do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/life-we-can-now-say-is-getting-something-to-happen-against-the-odds/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [It is as we respond to the understandings and feelings inherent in . . . art that we acquire much of our truth, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-is-as-we-respond-to-the-understandings-and-feelings-inherent-in/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The religious naturalist is provisioned with tales of natural emergence that are, to my mind, far more magical than traditional miracles. Emergence is inherent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-religious-naturalist-is-provisioned-with-tales-of-natural/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The Big Bang, the formation of sars and planets, the origin and evolution of life on this planet, the advent of human consciousness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-big-bang-the-formation-of-sars-and-planets-the-origin-and/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [It seems far simpler to go ahead and say that the epic is a fantastic myth, that happens to be true of the material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-seems-far-simpler-to-go-ahead-and-say-that-the-epic-is-a-fantastic/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The concept of an independent spiritual realm does not augment, for me, the magic of the mystical dimension, whereas to think of this dimension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-concept-of-an-independent-spiritual-realm-does-not-augment-for-me/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) [Explore all 19 Ursula Goodenough quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) ## More Earth quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then all this earth shines like one house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/then-all-this-earth-shines-like-one-house/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. 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