States function as smoothly as they do, because the greater part of the population is not very intelligent, dreads responsibility, and desires nothing better than to be told what to do. Provided the rulers do not interfere with its material comforts and its cherished beliefs, it is perfectly happy to let itself be ruled.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Essay (1927-10), “A Note on Eugenics,” Proper Studies (1927)
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Huxley was somewhat sympathetic to eugenicist arguments, though pessimistic about addressing them. He used this observation as an argument against eugenic attempts to "improve" humanity, because increasing the "superior" part of the population would disrupt states and society through their increased ambition. The passage continues:The socially efficient and the intellectually gifted are precisely those who are not content to be ruled, but are ambitious either to rule or to live in an anti-social solitude. A state with a population consisting of nothing but these superior people could not hope to last for a year.
An abridged version of the essay appeared in Vanity Fair (1927-10), but did not include this passage.
Quotations about:
eugenics
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
“To Hell with all racialists,” she said aloud. “And to Hell with eugenics, degenerate heredity, miscegenation and frauds who pile up skulls like a conqueror as well. May they choke on their bones.”
Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher, Book 7, Ruddy Gore (1995)
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