Great Writing

"...From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

I truly appreciate great writing. I tend to think of great writers as having the ability to communicate endlessly complex and beautiful thoughts while using profoundly simple and succinct language. The words you see above have gone down in history as some of the most famous, if not THE most famous, in the history of science. These words grace the East entrance gate at the Field Museum in Chicago. They have given titles to multiple books and articles. They are brilliant, and so was their writer. These words are taken from the final page of Charles Darwin's first-day-of-sale sellout 1859 masterpiece, On The Origin Of Species. The two phrases most often repeated are "From so simple a beginning" and "Endless forms most beautiful." I love them both, but I'll talk about the second one to save time.

If I wanted to sit down and write a sentence that could convey the awesome complexity and beauty of all the species of Earth, what would I say? I would write something like "The brilliant multitude of species on Earth is without compare in the human imagination." Or something. But Darwin wrote only four words: "Endless forms most beautiful." You could re-write it with synonyms so say "Bunches of pretty shapes," but Darwin and you and I all know that doesn't work. The words are perfectly placed, thoughtfully selected, and sublime. I want to learn to write like that.