The Life of Erasmus Darwin is the 1879 biography of Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) by his grandson Charles Darwin.
Before publication however 16% of the work was cut out by Charles' daughter Etty Darwin — mostly the most provocative parts. An unabridged edition edited by Desmond King-Hele was published in 2003 to mark the 200th anniversary since Erasmus' death.
Famous quotes containing the words darwin, life and/or erasmus:
“Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind. It has no mind and no mind’s eye. It does not plan for the future. It has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all. If it can be said to play the role of the watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker.”
—Richard Dawkins (b. 1941)
“After us they’ll fly in hot air balloons, coat styles will change, perhaps they’ll discover a sixth sense and cultivate it, but life will remain the same, a hard life full of secrets, but happy. And a thousand years from now man will still be sighing, “Oh! Life is so hard!” and will still, like now, be afraid of death and not want to die.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)