The accidental causes of ...

The accidental causes of science are only accidents relatively to the intelligence of a man.
 Chauncey Wright

Quotes from the same author

We receive the truths of science by compulsion. Nothing but ignorance is able to resist them.
 Chauncey Wright
Natural Selection never made it come to pass, as a habit of nature, that an unsupported stone should move downwards rather than upwards. It applies to no part of inorganic nature, and is very limited even in the phenomena of organic life.
 Chauncey Wright