270 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



they might be done in absolute secrecy. Many a man 

 has lived a life of prosperity upon ill-gotten gains; 

 but ethics tells us that, in spite of the advantage 

 which comes to him, such a course of life should not 

 be followed. Ethics constantly insists that we should 

 yield to the interest of others some things which we 

 could easily obtain for ourselves. The sacrifice 

 demanded is real and not imaginary. Nothing is 

 surer than that ethics sometimes forbids the strong 

 man to use his strength to obtain the necessities of 

 life. He may not rob another of a loaf of bread, 

 even to save himself from starving. A man of supe- 

 rior intelligence is not allowed to use this intelligence 

 in all ways to obtain the things he needs. He may 

 not obtain his living by cheating his fellows, even 

 though this should give him a competency. The 

 spirit that underlies ethics demands of an individual 

 the yielding of many things which he could readily 

 obtain for himself by his own power. 



If it be said that this simply means that ethics 

 asks us to sacrifice a present good for a future ad- 

 vantage, the reply is that this is not true. Of course 

 frequently it may be true that in yielding his present 

 desires the individual is only working for a future 

 greater good. But in a vast number of instances, 

 where the demand for sacrifice is just as cogent, 

 the sacrifice is complete and involves no promise of 

 return. Many a man lives a whole life of sacrifice, 

 and to the day of his death is constantly yielding to 

 others things which he would like for himself, and 

 which would increase the value of his life to himself. 

 The monk, in the Middle Ages, when he went into the 

 monastery undoubtedly sacrificed permanently many 

 good things of this world which people in general 



