Put more briefly still, the distinction between me and my predecessors lies in this;- -my predecessors thought they knew the main normal cause or principle that underlies variation, whereas I think that there is no general principle underlying it at all, or that even if there is, we know hardly anything about it.
"Luck or Cunning?"
Samuel Butler
Surely, because no sooner is this made clear than we perceive that the idea underlying the old evolutionists is more in accord with instinctive feelings that we have cherished too long to be able now to disregard them than the central idea which underlies the "Origin of Species."
"Luck or Cunning?"
Samuel Butler
And my belief that, if she had ever existed, I should not be able to disbelieve in her, underlies my acceptance of her in that character."
"Somehow Good"
William de Morgan