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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