A fire-mist and a planet,
A crystal and a cell,
A jellyfish and a saurian,
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A fire-mist and a planet,
A crystal and a cell,
A jellyfish and a saurian,
And caves where the cavemen dwell;
Then a sense of law and beauty,
And a face turned from the clod--
Some call it Evolution,
And others call it God.

The stream of tendency in which all things seek to fulfill the
law of their being.

The stream of tendency in which all things seek to fulfill the
law of their being.

Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and
accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the read more

Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and
accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe
loves nothing so much as to change the things which are, and to
make new things like them.

There was an ape in the days that were earlier,
Centuries passed and his hair became curlier;
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There was an ape in the days that were earlier,
Centuries passed and his hair became curlier;
Centuries more gave a thumb to his wrist--
Then he was a Man and a Positivist.

Most species do their own evolving, making it up as they go along, which is the way Nature intended. And read more

Most species do their own evolving, making it up as they go along, which is the way Nature intended. And this is all very natural and organic and in tune with mysterious cycles of the cosmos, which believes that there’s nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fiber and, in some cases, backbone.

Said the little Eohippus,
"I am going to be a horse,
And on my middle fingernails
read more

Said the little Eohippus,
"I am going to be a horse,
And on my middle fingernails
To run my earthly course!
. . . .
I'm going to have a flowing tail!
I'm going to have a mane!
I'm going to stand fourteen hands high
On the Psychozoic plain!"

When I was a shepherd on the plains of Assyria.

When I was a shepherd on the plains of Assyria.

The expression often used by Mr. Herbert Spencer of the Survival
of the Fittest is more accurate, and is read more

The expression often used by Mr. Herbert Spencer of the Survival
of the Fittest is more accurate, and is sometimes equally
convenient.

Out of the dusk a shadow,
Then a spark;
Out of the cloud a silence,
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Out of the dusk a shadow,
Then a spark;
Out of the cloud a silence,
Then a lark;
Out of the heart a rapture,
Then a pain;
Out of the dead, cold ashes,
Life again.