Quoting Thomas Jefferson

“I am satisfied, and sufficiently occupied with the things which are, without tormenting or troubling myself about those which may indeed be, but of which I have no evidence.”
— Thomas Jefferson

More quotes from Thomas Jefferson.

Multicellular bacteria

One of the steps along the way to multicellular life is the development of multicellular bacteria. Larry Moran at Sandwalk tells how they developed with special emphasis on plants, which are often neglected in discussions of evolution. Follow the link to read his excellent article.

Quoting Walt Whitman

From Leaves of Grass:

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.
—Walt Whitman

(Hat tip to Amalgamation blog)