The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine read more

The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.

The rise of every man he loved to trace,
Up to the very pod O!
And, in read more

The rise of every man he loved to trace,
Up to the very pod O!
And, in baboons, our parent race
Was found by old Monboddo.
Their A, B, C, he made them speak,
And learn their qui, quae, quod, O!
Till Hebrew, Latin, Welsh, and Greek
They knew as well's Monboddo!

Children, behold the Chimpanzee;
He sits on the ancestral tree
From which we sprang in ages gone.
read more

Children, behold the Chimpanzee;
He sits on the ancestral tree
From which we sprang in ages gone.
I'm glad we sprang: had we held on,
We might, for aught that I can say,
Be horrid Chimpanzees to-day.

Till o'er the wreck, emerging from the storm,
Immortal Nature lifts her changeful form:
Mounts from her read more

Till o'er the wreck, emerging from the storm,
Immortal Nature lifts her changeful form:
Mounts from her funeral pyre on wings of flame,
And soars and shines, another and the same.

There was an ape in the days that were earlier,
Centuries passed and his hair became curlier;
read more

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.

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.

Pouter, tumbler, and fantail are from the same source;
The racer and hack may be traced to one Horse;
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Pouter, tumbler, and fantail are from the same source;
The racer and hack may be traced to one Horse;
So men were developed from monkeys of course,
Which nobody can deny.

The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others read more

The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others as it transforms

All evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.

All evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.