Skip to content

My genes have indeed determined what I am, but only in the sense that, given the succession of environments and experiences that were mine, a carrier of a different set of genes might have become unlike myself.

— Theodosius Dobzhansky Mankind Evolving (1962)

Another quote →

More quotes by Theodosius Dobzhansky

Man is the only living being who has a developed self-awareness and death-awareness.

Mourning and Funerals—For Whom (1977)

The living world is not a single array . . . connected by unbroken series of intergrades.

Genetics and the Origin of Species (1951)

Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution

No known human group . . . simply throw[s] out its dead without any ritual or ceremony. In stark contrast, no animal practices burial of dead individuals of its own species.

Mourning and Funerals—For Whom (1977)

Seen in the light of evolution, biology is, perhaps, intellectually the most satisfying and inspiring science. Without that light it becomes a pile of sundry facts -- some of them interesting or curious but making no meaningful picture as a whole.

Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution (1973)

All Theodosius Dobzhansky quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Theodosius Dobzhansky (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.