People in our culture who like to think of
themselves as tough-minded and realistic,
including influential political leaders and
businessmen as well as go-getters and
husters of smaller caliber, tend to take it
for granted that human nature is "selfish"
and that life is a struggle in which only
the fittest may survive. According to the
philosophy, the basic law by which man must
live, in spite of his surface veneer of
civilization, is the law of the jungle.
The "fittest" are those who can bring to the struggle superior force,superior cunning,
and superior ruthlessness.

在现代文化中,喜欢把自己看作是意志坚强而现实的人们,包括那些有势力的政治领袖和商界翘楚,以及才干较差的野心家和活动家在内,都想要把人性的自私,与人生是一场只有适者才能生存的奋斗,视为当然. 由于这种人生哲学,人类为要生存而必须依重的基本原则,就是弱肉强食,纵令他具有文明的外表.所谓适者就是那些能够以过人的力量,过人的狡猾和过人的残忍来奋斗的人.