There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
Herbert SpencerRead
Organs, faculties, powers, capacities, or whatever else we call them; grow by use and diminish from disuse, it is inferred that they will continue to do so. And if this inference is unquestionable, then is the one above deduced from it-that humanity must in the end become completely adapted to its conditions-unquestionable also. Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our abilities and faculties grow when used and decline when neglected, indicating that humanity must adapt to its conditions as a matter of necessity.
Herbert Spencer's quote highlights that human faculties, whether physical or mental, develop through practice and exercise, while neglecting them leads to their decline. This principle extends to humanity as a whole, suggesting that continuous adaptation to our circumstances is not a mere chance occurrence but an essential process for progress and survival. The quote implies that growth and advancement are fundamental to human existence, driven by the need to adjust to ever-changing conditions.
Themes
AdaptationProgressGrowthUseHumanityCapacity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage personal development.
More from Herbert Spencer
All quotes →No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be perfectly happy till all are happy.
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That feelings of love and hate make rational judgments impossible in public affairs, as in private affairs, we can clearly enough see in others, though not so clearly in ourselves.
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Be it or be it not true that Man is shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, it is unquestionably true that Government is begotten of aggression, and by aggression.
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This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest.
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I emphasize the reply that the liberty which a citizen enjoys is to be measured, not by the nature of the governmental machinery he lives under, whether representative or other, but by the relative paucity of the restraints it imposes on him.
Herbert SpencerRead
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