Georges Cuvier

"The skeleton is the autobiography of the animal written in bone."

"Every fossil is a page torn from the book of life."

"Understanding the past requires abandoning present assumptions."

"The law of correlation binds all parts of creation."

"In nature's repetitions, we discover nature's principles."

"The dead instruct the living about the nature of life."

"Species, like individuals, have their appointed spans."

"To observe is to participate in the act of creation."

"Nature's economy permits no waste, only transformation."

"The fossil record refutes the notion of permanence."

"Science advances when we accept what we do not know."

"In the extinction of creatures, we see the will of time itself."

"The structure of life reveals the structure of the universe."

"Every animal is perfectly suited to its station in nature."

"Knowledge pursued with humility becomes wisdom."

"The study of nature is the study of divine workmanship."

"Correlation of parts is the principle underlying all biological order."

"In nature's designs, we read the mind of the creator."

"The careful observer sees what others pass by."

"Each fossil awakens us to the vastness of time."

"Nature permits no exceptions to her laws."

"Understanding ancient life teaches us about present existence."

"The body of an animal is the record of its history."

"In comparative anatomy lies the evidence of creation's unity."

"Nature works not by leaps but by methodical progression."

"The more we know of nature, the more we wonder."

"Fossils are nature's letters to those who can read them."

"To classify living things is to understand the mind of God."

"Every creature occupies a place determined by creation itself."

"Science requires both bold imagination and strict verification."