“Surely if a single cell may, when subjected to certain influences, become a man in the space of twenty years; there is nothing absurd in the hypothesis that under certain other influences, a cell may, in the course of millions of years, give origin to the human race.”

— Herbert Spencer

The Development Hypothesis (1852)

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Herbert Spencer 81

English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent … 1820–1903

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“If a single cell, under appropriate conditions, becomes a man in the space of a few years, there can surely be no difficulty in understanding how, under appropriate conditions, a cell may, in the course of untold millions of years, give origin to the human race.”

Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist

Vol. I, Part III: The Evolution of Life, Ch. 3 : General Aspects of the Evolution Hypothesis; compare: "As nine months go to the shaping an infant ripe for his birth, / So many a million of ages have gone to the making of man", Alfred Lord Tennyson, Maud (1855)
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“One is more certain to influence men, to produce more effect on them, by absurdities than by sensible ideas.”

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“Cells of all kinds share certain structural features.”

Albert L. Lehninger (1917–1986) American biochemist

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“The facts drawn from an experience of more than twenty years enable us to make certain deductions with respect to the study of the Negro. Only one Negro out of every ten thousand is interested in the effort to set forth what his race has thought and felt and attempted and accomplished that it may not become a negligible factor in the thought of the world. By traditions and education, however, the large majority of Negroes have become interested in the history and status of other races, and they spend millions annually to promote such knowledge. Along with this sum, of course, should be considered the large amount paid for devices in trying not to be Negroes.”

Carter G. Woodson book The Mis-Education of the Negro

Source: The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933), Chapter XVIII: The Study of the Negro

“But how much are the delicate convolutions of the brain influenced by the digestive apparatus? When the mal de mere seizes me I, Hercule Poirot, am a creature with no grey cells, no order, no method — a mere member of the human race somewhere below average intelligence!”

Agatha Christie book Death in the Clouds

Death in the Clouds (1935)

“Wherever the want of clothing forced them to it, the human race made clothes for thousands of years, without a single man becoming a tailor.”

Karl Marx (1818–1883) German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist

Vol. I, Ch. 1, Section 2, pg. 49.
(Buch I) (1867)

“There might be very primitive life in our solar system — single-cell animals, that sort of thing. We may know the answer to that in five or ten years. There is very likely to be life in other solar systems, in planets around other stars. But we won't know about that for a long time.”

Sally Ride (1951–2012) American physicist and astronaut

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“Certain unique books seem to be without forerunners or successors as far as their authors are concerned. Even though they may profoundly influence the work of other writers, for their creator they're complete, not leading anywhere.”

Dodie Smith book I Capture the Castle

Source: I Capture the Castle

“The dream of every cell is to become two cells.”

François Jacob (1920–2013) French biologist

They not only obey them; they utilize them as a good engineer would, with maximum efficiency, to carry out the project and bring about the "dream" (as François Jacob put it) of every cell: to become two cells.
Source: Originated from paraphrase of a paragraph in Chance and Necessity (1970, p20) by Jacques Monod:

“Twenty years from now, when space travel is likely to become mundane like airline travel today, we don't want to be buying travel tickets on other people's space vehicles.”

G. Madhavan Nair (1943) Indian aerospace engineer

Quoted in Pallava Bagla, "India's growing strides in space," http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7374714.stm, BBC News (2008-04-30).

“Surely if a single cell may, when subjected to certain influences, become a man in the space of twenty years; there is nothing absurd in the hypothesis that under certain other influences, a cell may, in the course of millions of years, give origin to the human race.”

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