The Survival of the Fittest 



tue, and so to live and so to die. This way then 

 we will follow, and we will call upon all other 

 men to do the same; not that way which you be- 

 lieve in and call upon me to follow; for that 

 way, Callicles, is worthless." 



It is only the old story in a new form. Calli- 

 cles's philosophy is reptilian. Socrates, looking 

 away from the immediate and tangible, is fol- 

 lowing in the line unconsciously trodden by all 

 his progressive ancestors throughout the ages. 

 The old law of fitness is unchangeable and irre- 

 versible. Man must focus his attention and will 

 on the development of the powers of unlimited 

 capacity and possibilty. Otherwise he will surely 

 degenerate. He must be willing to renounce 

 certain present advantages. It is merely what 

 all his ancestors have done before him. He 

 must face the ridicule of the molluscan philoso- 

 phers. There is much of the philosophy of the 

 clam abroad in the world to-day, though its 

 original source is usually unknown or unrecog- 

 nized. The goal of evolution lies far in the 

 future, distant, and often dim. We must keep 

 our eyes fixed steadily upon it or we shall surely 

 stray. There are many paths which seem right 

 in men's eyes whose end is death. 



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