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
This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The concept suggests that only the strongest or most adaptable individuals or species thrive and reproduce.
Herbert Spencer's quote 'This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest' emphasizes the idea that in nature, those who are best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. This statement reflects the concept of natural selection, wherein the traits that allow individuals to thrive in their surroundings are passed down to the next generation, leading to a gradual evolution of species over time.
Themes
SurvivalFittestNatural SelectionAdaptationEvolution
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about wildlife conservation, this quote can be referenced to explain the importance of preserving natural habitats.
More from Herbert Spencer
All quotes βNo 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.
Herbert SpencerRead
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.
Herbert SpencerRead
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.
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.
Herbert SpencerRead
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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