Previous
Hybrid
Immutability is the quality of being unable to change. It is the opposite of “mutability,” which refers something that can be easily changed.
Immutability Quotes in The Origin of Species
The The Origin of Species quotes below are all either spoken by Immutability or refer to Immutability. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10
Quotes
It has been asserted over and over again, by writers who believe in the immutability of species, that geology yields no linking forms. This assertion, as we shall see in the next chapter, is certainly erroneous.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Origin of Species LitChart as a printable PDF.
Immutability Term Timeline in The Origin of Species
The timeline below shows where the term Immutability appears in The Origin of Species. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10
...provided no evidence that intermediate forms even existed, suggesting that this means that species are immutable. While Darwin always acknowledged the imperfections of the geological record, he argued that there were...
(full context)
...the issue. Nevertheless, Darwin noted that prominent geologists like Lyell who once believed in the immutability of species had recently come around to ideas more similar to Darwin’s. He ultimately argued...
(full context)
Chapter 15
Darwin speculated that the reason why so many naturalists believed in the immutability of species was that it was hard to imagine the individual steps. He compared his...
(full context)
