The uniformity of earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single cell, fertilized in a bolt of lightning as the earth cooled.
Source: The Lives of a Cell, Viking 74
-- Lewis Thomas, (Nov 25 1913-1993), English biologist, essayist; He translated the intricate mysteries of the Earth's biology into a series of finely crafted, award-winning essays.