88 FOOT-NOTES TO EVOLUTION. 



as soon as it is possible." Whatever is not needed tends 

 to decline and disappear. 



In our discussion of social evolution we need some- 

 times to remember that the very perfection of society 

 must always appear as imperfection ; for a highly devel- 

 oped society is dynamic. It is moving on. A static 

 society, no matter how perfect it may seem, whether a 

 Utopia, Icaria, or City of the Sun, is in a condition of ar- 

 rested development. Its growth has ceased, and its per- 

 fection is that of death. The most highly advanced 

 social conditions are the most unstable. The individual 

 man counts for most under those conditions; for the 

 growth of the individual man is the only justification for 

 the institutions of which he forms part. The most 

 highly developed organism shows the greatest imperfec- 

 tions. The most perfect adaptation to conditions needs 

 readaptation, as conditions themselves speedily change. 

 The dream of a static millennium, when struggle and 

 change shall be over, when all shall be secure and happy, 

 finds no warrant in our knowledge of man and the world. 

 Self-realization in life is only possible when self-per- 

 dition is also possible. When cruelty and hate are 

 excluded by force, charity and helpfulness will go with 

 them. Strength and virtue have their roots within man, 

 not without. They may be checked but they can not 

 be greatly stimulated by institutions and statutes. 



In this connection we have also to remember that 

 the struggle for existence in human society does not mean 

 brutality. It is not necessarily a war to the knife, nor 

 a struggle with fists nor with balances of trade. The 

 elements of ultimate success in the struggle are not 

 teeth, nor claws, nor brute strength, nor trickery. 

 Through all the ages love has been stronger than force; 

 and those creatures who could help each other have 

 been stronger than those who could only fight. 



