I Am Turned Into A Sort

Charles Darwin wrote this self-assessment in his Autobiography, composed in 1876 for his family and not intended for publication. He was reflecting on how his method of work — systematic collection and analysis of facts over decades — had shaped his mental character. The passage continues: "My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts." Darwin was describing the discipline required to produce On the Origin of Species after twenty years of careful evidence-gathering.