Quotes:
“[I suppose the reason] we all jumped at the Origin [Origin of Species] was because the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores.”
- Sir Julian Huxley
Evolution is unproved and unprovable. We believe it only because the only alternative is special creation, and that is unthinkable.
- Arthur Keith
The account of the origin of life that I shall give is necessarily speculative; by definition, nobody was around to see what happened. The Selfish Gene (1989) p.14
- Richard Dawkins
It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that). “Put Your Money on Evolution” The New York Times (April 9, 1989) section VII p.35- Richard Dawkins
Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose. The Blind Watchmaker (1996) p.1 (emphasis mine)
- Richard Dawkins
My argument will be that Darwinism is the only known theory that is in principle capable of explaining certain aspects of life. If I am right it means that, even if there were no actual evidence in favour of Darwinian theory (there is, of course) we should still be justified in preferring it over all rival theories.
- Richard Dawkins
So powerful is the illusion of design, it took humanity until the mid-19th century to realise that it is an illusion. New Scientist September 17 2005 p.33
- Richard Dawkins
This sketch is most imperfect; but in so short a space I cannot make it better. Your imagination must fill up many wide blanks. Without some reflexion it will appear all rubbish; perhaps it will appear so after reflexion. Letter to Asa Gray September 5, 1857
- Charles Darwin
Nature may almost be said to have guarded against the frequent discovery of her transitional or linking forms. Origin of Species (1859) p.292
- Charles Darwin
He who rejects this view of the imperfection of the geological record, will rightly reject the whole theory. For he may ask in vain where are the numberless transitional links which must formerly have connected the closely allied or representative species found in the successive stages of the same great formation?” The Origin of Species (1859) p.342
- Charles Darwin
As Ernst Mayr, one of the founders of the modern synthetic theory of evolution, pointed out in his Systematics and the Origin of Species (1942) Darwin never really did discuss the origin of species in his The Origin of Species. Time Frames (1985) p.33
As a paleontologist, I readily concede that my long dead fossils, lacking any traces of their soft anatomies or behaviors, are totally mute on the subject of reproduction and transmission of genetic information. And this is, I acknowledge, a major limitation to our data. Reinventing Darwin (1995) p.2
The intervals of time that separate fossils are so huge that we cannot say anything definite about their possible connection through ancestry and descent. In Search of Deep Time (2001) p. 23
Haeckel’s genius, with all its different facts, came out first when he wrote his theoretical magnum opus under the influence of the Origin of Species, which started him on his career as Darwin’s greatest apostle on the continent. Portraits From Memory (1956) p.33 (Recall that Haeckel was arrested and tried by his own college for fraud regarding his embryo drawings which he admitted)
Before Darwin, we thought that a benevolent God had created us. Ever Since Darwin (1979) p.267The present teaching in schools permits the following absurdity: at 10 a.m. the pupils attend a lesson in the catechism, at which the creation of the world is presented to them in accordance with the teachings of the Bible; and at 11 a.m. they attend a lesson in natural science, at which they are taught the theory of evolution. Yet the two doctrines are in complete contradiction. As a child, I suffered from this contradiction, and ran my head against a wall. Often I complained to one or another of my teachers against what I had been taught an hour before -- and I remember I drove them to despair. Hitler's Secret Conversations October 24, 1941
- Adolf Hitler (Killed millions of Jews in an attempt to "push forward' evolution because he thought his race was superior above all - he was extremely influenced by Darwin's book)
The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that 'a tornado sweeping through a junk yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein'. "Hoyle on Evolution" Nature November 12, 1981 p.105
5 comments:
I just noticed this. I dare you to try to find validation for this quote:
Evolution is unproved and unprovable. We believe it only because the only alternative is special creation, and that is unthinkable.
- Arthur Keith
I did my best to trcak it down in any actual writing by Keith with no success. This is what Talk origins said, but I did my own search too. Keith was very pro-Darwin and there is no reason from his writing to think he would have said this. And although many sites have this quote, as far as I can tell there's no basis for thinking it's an actual quote by Keith. The fact that it's listed on many creatyionist sites just goes to show that people copy quotes without even trying to read the what else the authors said, or to read the quotes in context. I don't think this quote exists. If you want to try to locate the actual book, please do so.
Yes it is a quote that is hard to track down due to it supposedly being something Keith wrote as a forward in a copy of "The Origin Of The Species" It still doesn't negate the fact that there are many many more evolutionist who feel the same way he does. However, I also must state that I only use well trusted, non compromising Christian apologetic organizations when doing my research. I will send them an email asking them about the validity of the quote. I don't think we will be able to actually locate the book if Keith wrote this as a forward. We'll see what they say.
Joe
I hope you get a response; I'd be interested to see what they say.
Keith did write an introduction to a 1928 edition, and nothing like that quote is in that introduction.
If I could get a copy of the 1928 book to check it out, I would hope that someone could find a copy of the one in the 1950s and give its exact information. (The year for the supposed edition is a year after Keith died, but I suppose he could have written it ahead of time.) But if the book can't be found by anyone then how can you be sure there even was a quote? Or what the context was?
(I'm remembering now that I read somewhere that the supposed Keith quote is actually similar to the wording of a quote from someone else, so it's probably just a mistake that was passed on many times. But I don't remember who the other person was. Maybe I have it saved somewhere.)
Have you had any responses or any luck in checking on the validity of this quote yet?
No not yet, but the second I hear from them I will post it on the blog. When I initially sent the email out to them I received an immediate reply stating something to the effect of "due to high email volume, it may take some time for us to get back to you...." So thanks for the accountability and keep asking. Im sure we'll hear from them sooner or later
Joe
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