APHORISMS AND REFLECTIONS in 



that this fallacy has arisen out of the unfortunate 

 ambiguity of the phrase "survival of the fittest." 

 " Fittest " has a connotation of "best " ; and about 

 "best" there hangs a moral flavour. In cosmic 

 nature, however, what is " fittest " depends upon the 

 conditions. Long since, I ventured to point out that 

 if our hemisphere were to cool again, the survival of 

 the fittest might bring about, in the vegetable king- 

 dom, a population of more and more stunted and 

 humbler and humbler organisms, until the " fittest" 

 that survived might be nothing but lichens, diatoms, 

 and such microscopic organisms as those which give 

 red snow its colour ; while, if it became hotter, the 

 pleasant valleys of the Thames and I sis might be 

 uninhabitable by any animated beings save those 

 that flourish in a tropical jungle. They, as the fittest, 

 the best adapted to the changed conditions, would 

 survive. 



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The practice of that which is ethically best— what 

 we call goodness or virtue — involves a course of 

 conduct which, in all respects, is opposed to that 

 which leads to success in the cosmic struggle for 

 existence. In place of ruthless self-assertion it 

 demands self-restraint ; in place of thrusting aside, 

 or treading down, all competitors, it requires that 

 the individual shall not merely respect, but shall 

 help his fellows ; its influence is directed, not so 

 much to the survival of the fittest, as to the fitting 

 of as many as possible to survive. It repudiates 

 the gladiatorial theory of existence. It demands 

 that each man who enters into the enjoyment of the 

 advantages of a polity shall be mindful of his debt 

 to those who have laboriously constructed it ; and 

 shall take heed that no act of his w^eakens the fabric 

 in which he has been permitted to live. Laws and 



