"I am a strong believer in the power of observation and the importance of collecting facts."

"Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows."

"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down."

"My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts."

"To kill an error is as good a service as to establish a new truth."