Improving on Nature 



Most of his fellows follow a com- 

 paratively simple life; a routine that 

 can be easily traced. You will know 

 to a certainty what to expect from a 

 cow or cat. You can bank on what 

 will probably be done by a donkey or 

 a dromedary. You do not need to 

 figure closely on the actions of a bee 

 or a barracuda. Their ways are fixed, 

 dependable. You know before you 

 plant it what a seed will bring forth at 

 the harvest, but what a man will 

 develop, after he has found his own 

 powers and limitations, the wisest of 

 prophets may not predict. He is the 

 sum of all by whom he was preceded; 

 the composite of all who have gone 

 before angel today, the very devil 

 tomorrow and he can no more help 

 being the inconsistent creature that 

 he is than the rest of creation can help 

 being cast in unchanging moulds. He 

 has the fidelity of a dog, the treachery 

 of a tiger; the gentleness of a dove, 

 the fury of a hornet; the patience of 



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