Adam Sedgwick Quotes, born in Dent, Yorkshire, England, was a British geologist, Anglican priest, and one of the founders of modern geology. As Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge University (1818–1873), he proposed the Cambrian and Devonian periods of the geological timescale, significantly advancing the field through his work on Welsh strata and fossil records. A mentor to Charles Darwin during his early geological studies, Sedgwick later opposed Darwin’s theory of evolution, favoring a natural theology that intertwined science and faith.
These 15 quotes—sourced from his writings, letters, and public statements—reflect his insights on geology, science, faith, and the natural world, capturing his intellectual rigor and conservative worldview.
15 Adam Sedgwick Quotes
- “We cannot take one step in geology without drawing upon the fathomless stores of by-gone time.” (William Wordsworth, Adam Sedgwick, A Complete Guide to the Lakes, 1853, p.45)
- “From first to last it is a dish of rank materialism cleverly cooked up … And why is this done? For no other reason, I am sure, except to make us independent of a Creator.” (Letter to Charles Lyell, 1861, cited in Ronald Clark, The Survival of Charles Darwin, 1984, p.139)
- “The powers of nature are never in repose; her work never stands still.” (Letter to William Wordsworth, A Complete Guide to the Lakes, 1842, p.49)
- “A cold atheistical materialism is the tendency of the so-called material philosophy of the present day.” (William Wordsworth, Adam Sedgwick, A Complete Guide to the Lakes, 1842)
- “Among the older records, we find chapter after chapter of which we can read the characters, and make out their meaning: and as we approach the period of man’s creation, our book becomes more clear.” (John Willis Clark and Thomas McKenny Hughes, The Life and Letters of the Reverend Adam Sedgwick, 1890, Vol. 2, p.83)
- “No opinion can be heretical, but that which is not true… Conflicting falsehoods we can comprehend; but truths can never war against each other.” (Speech, Geological Society of London, February 1830)
- “If the [Vestiges] be true, the labours of sober induction are in vain; religion is a lie; human law is a mass of folly, and a base injustice; morality is moonshine.” (Letter to Charles Lyell, 1845, The Life and Letters of the Reverend Adam Sedgwick, 1890, Vol. 2, p.84)
- “Hitherto I have never turned a stone; henceforth I will leave no stone unturned.” (Remark upon becoming Woodwardian Professor, 1818, cited in Adam Sedgwick, ucmp.berkeley.edu)
- “A serpent threaded through the shell of a turtle.” (On the Plesiosaur, quoted in Mantell’s Medals of Creation, 2nd ed., ii, p.)
- “The pretended physical philosophy of modern days strips Man of all his moral attributes, or holds them of no account in the estimate of his origin.” (John Hudson et al., A Complete Guide to the Lakes, 1846, p.168)
- “We must in imagination sweep off the drifted matter that clogs the surface of the ground… to see the muscular integuments, and sinews, and bones of our mother Earth.” (A Complete Guide to the Lakes, 1846, p.168)
- “The sober facts of geology shuffled, so as to play a rogue’s game; phrenology (that sinkhole of human folly and prating coxcombry); spontaneous generation; transmutation of species; and I know not what.” (John Hudson et al., A Complete Guide to the Lakes, 1846, p.168)
- “As we approach the period of man’s creation, nature seems to speak to us in language so like our own, that we easily comprehend it.” (The Life and Letters of the Reverend Adam Sedgwick, 1890, Vol. 2, p.83)
- “You have deserted… the true method of induction—& started up a machinery as wild I think as Bishop Wilkin’s locomotive that was to sail with us to the Moon.” (Letter to Charles Darwin on On the Origin of Species, 1859, cited in Darwin Correspondence Project)
- “Gross credulity and rank infidelity joined in unlawful marriage, and breeding a deformed progeny of unnatural conclusions!” (John Hudson et al., A Complete Guide to the Lakes, 1846, p.168)
Adam Sedgwick’s quotes are a compelling blend of scientific passion, theological conviction, and poetic reverence for nature, urging us to explore the Earth’s history while grappling with the moral implications of scientific ideas. Which one resonates with your view of science or faith? Share it below and keep Sedgwick’s geological legacy alive!
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