122 APHORISMS AND REFLECTIONS 



a qualification. Undoubtedly "vital capital" is 

 essential ; for, as we have seen, no human work 

 can be done unless it exists, not even that internal 

 work of the body which is necessary to passive 

 life. But, with respect to labour (that is, human 

 labour) I hope to have left no doubt on the reader's 

 mind that, in regard to production, the importance 

 of human labour may be so small as to be almost a 

 vanishing quantity. 



The one thing needful for economic production 

 is the green plant, as the sole producer of vital 

 capital from natural inorganic bodies. Men might 

 exist without labour (in the ordinary sense) and 

 without land ; without plants they must inevitably 

 perish. 



Since no amount of labour can produce an ounce 

 of food-stuff beyond the maximum producible by a 

 limited number of plants, under the most favourable 

 circumstances in regard to those conditions which 

 are not affected by labour, it follows that, if the 

 number of men to be fed increases indefinitely, a 

 time must come when some will have to starve. 

 That is the essence of the so-called Malthusian 

 doctrine ; and it is a truth which, to my mind, is 

 as plain as the general proposition that a quantity 

 which constantly increases will, some time or other, 

 exceed any greater quantity the amount of which 

 is fixed. 



"Virtually" is apt to cover more intellectual sins 

 than "charity" does moral delicts. 



