Georges Cuvier
A founder of paleontology and comparative anatomy, known for his work on extinction and his opposition to evolutionary theories.
Most quoted
"The animal kingdom, viewed in its entirety, presents a vast and complex network of relationships, where every part is connected to every other part, and where the destruction of one link can reverberate throughout the whole."
— from Le Règne Animal distribué d'après son organisation
"Every organized being forms a whole, a unique and closed system, of which all the parts mutually correspond and concur to the same definitive action by a reciprocal reaction."
— from The Animal Kingdom, 1817
"Our consciousness allows us to reflect on our own mortality, to ponder the meaning of our brief existence, and to seek solace in the enduring patterns of the natural world."
— from Discourse on the Revolutions of the Surface of the Globe
All quotes by Georges Cuvier (414)
To understand the living, one must study the dead.
Revolutions in the earth's history have buried entire worlds.
The fixity of species is as certain as the fixity of the stars.
Knowledge is the light that dispels the shadows of ignorance.
Every bone tells a story of life long past.
The naturalist must be both observer and philosopher.
In the silence of the fossil record, we hear the echoes of creation.
Animals are machines designed by the hand of God.
The diversity of life is a library of wonders.
Catastrophes are the punctuation marks in the book of geology.
True science begins where speculation ends.
The elephant's tusks remind us of the grandeur lost to time.
Life's brevity urges us to seek eternal truths in nature.
Anatomy is the key to unlocking the mysteries of organization.
The past is written in stone, and we are its readers.
No species transgresses its boundaries; such is the law of nature.
The joy of discovery is the naturalist's greatest reward.
Fossils are the tombstones of ancient worlds.
In unity there is strength; in diversity, beauty.
The earth has witnessed many deluges, each reshaping life.
Contemporaries of Georges Cuvier
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Georges Cuvier (1769–1832).