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About this quote

What does it mean?
A critic notes Huxley's ambition and suggests his strength lies in dissecting biology while his weakness is critiquing people.
In plain terms
Huxley is ambitious and good at cutting up apes but not so good at cutting up men.
What can you take from it?
Recognize that skills in one area do not guarantee competence in another.

Where it applies

  • peer review
  • scientific debates
  • personal character assessment

Putting it to work

  • focus on your strengths
  • be cautious about personal critiques

Questions to consider

  • What are your areas of forte versus foible?
  • Does ambition help or hinder integrity?

Another view

This is a third-party observation about Huxley's character rather than his own words.

More from Thomas Henry Huxley

  1. 'Pope Huxley' title of an article by R.H. Hutton who complains that whilst THH advocates agnosticism for everyone else, he's apt to be a mite too certain himse…

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  2. 'Darwin's bulldog was patently a man of almost puritanical uprightness'

    Permalink to quote #75
  3. 'Huxley gave the death-blow not only to Owen's theory of the skull but also to Owen's hitherto unchallenged prestige'

    Permalink to quote #72

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