On the Origin of Species

The sixth edition, 1872. 87 parts, about 172,206 words, 13 hours of reading. Source edition.

Passages the guide marks

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Not in the book
Owing to this struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, will tend to the preservation of that individual,…
Chapter 3 · Read it in XV: Recapitulation and Conclusion
If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.
Chapter 6 · Read it in Modes of Transition
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity,…
Chapter 14, closing · Read it in XV: Recapitulation and Conclusion

About this text

Public domain in the United States; the Standard Ebooks edition is released under CC0. It is not the edition the programs assign; the guide names that one, and the buy links there point at it.

Contents