It is therefore desirable, when we contrast ourselves with the rude and superstitious savages who preceeded us, to remember, as cultivators of science, that the high comparative place which we have reached in the scale of being has been gained step by step by a conscientious study of natural phenomena, and by fearlessly teaching the doctrines to which they point.
It is by faithfully weighing evidence, without regard to preconceived notions, by earnestly and patiently searching for what is true, not what we wish to be true, that we have attained that dignity, which we may in vain hope to claim through the rank of an ideal parentage.
Quotation from: Principles of Geology 10th edition (1868) by Charles Lyell