Suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place... The inference, we think, is inevitable; that the watch must have had a maker, that there must have existed, at some time and at some place or other, an artificer or artificers, who formed it for the purpose which we find it actually to answer; who comprehended its construction, and designed its use.

William Paley

More information about this quote

Topic

Argument from design Origin of life

Author

William Paley

Source

Natural Theology

Genre

Religious literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1802 1800s 19th century

Occupation

Clergyman Philosopher Christian

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Paley, William. Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature. London: R. Faulder/Philadelphia: John Morgan, 1802, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Paley, WIlliam. Natural Theology, edited by Matthew D. Eddy and David Knight. Oxford University Press, 2008, ch. 1.

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A quote by William Paley about argument from design: “Suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be…”
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A quote by William Paley about argument from design: “Suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be…”
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A quote by William Paley about argument from design: “Suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1800s

FIRST LAW: In every animal... A more frequent and continuous use of any organ gradually strengthens, develops and enlarges that organ... While the permanent disuse of any organ imperceptibly weakens and deteriorates it, and progressively diminishes its functional capacity, until it finally disappears.
SECOND LAW: All the acquisitions or losses wrought by nature in individuals... Are preserved by reproductions to the new individuals which arise.

Jean-Baptiste Lamark

Philosophie Zoologique

More information about this quote
Topic
Evolution

Author

Jean-Baptiste Lamark
Source
Philosophie Zoologique
Language
French
Time
1809 1800s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste. Philosophie zoologique [Zoological Philosophy]. Paris: Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, 1809, pt. 1, ch. 7.

Current Citation

Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste. Zoological Philosophy, translated by Hugh Samuel Roger Elliott. Cambridge University Press, 2011, pt. 1, ch. 7.

Another quote of the following type Metaphor, analogy and simile

His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have them, they are not worth the search.

William Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice

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More information about this quote
Topic
Justifications and rationales Nonsense and bullshit
Speaker
Bassanio

Author

William Shakespeare
Source
The Merchant of Venice
Medium
Play
Genre
Comedy (play)
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1598 1590s 16th century
Era
European Renaissance
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. c. 1598, The Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Merchant of Venice." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 1.