--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [I]t is indisputably the mediocre, if not…" description: "\"“[I]t is indisputably the mediocre, if not the low, both as regards morality and intelligence, who succeed in life and multiply the fastest.”\" — Alfred..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dae/alfred-russel-wallace-18563_character_i-t-is-indisputably-the-mediocre-if-not_1754509.jpg" --- # \[I\]t is indisputably the mediocre, if not the low, both as… ![“[I]t is indisputably the mediocre, if not the low, both as regards morality and intelligence, who succeed in life and multiply the fastest.” quote by Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dae/alfred-russel-wallace-18563_character_i-t-is-indisputably-the-mediocre-if-not_1754509.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dae/alfred-russel-wallace-18563_character_i-t-is-indisputably-the-mediocre-if-not_1754509.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dae/alfred-russel-wallace-18563_character_i-t-is-indisputably-the-mediocre-if-not_1754509.jpg) > ““\[I\]t is indisputably the mediocre, if not the low, both as regards morality and intelligence, who succeed in life and multiply the fastest.”” [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People with lower moral standards and intelligence often achieve rapid success and proliferation. **In simple terms:** Unethical, less intelligent people often succeed quickly. Key Takeaway Question ethical frameworks in success metrics. Themes ethics success intelligence Mood skeptical reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - business - politics - education - media - technology Key Concepts social Darwinism morality inequality Questions to Reflect On - What defines true success? - How can societies reward ethical behavior? A Different Perspective Success may be driven by factors beyond merit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Elitism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elitism/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocrity/) [Social darwinism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-darwinism/) ## Related quotes > [ And yet, strange to say, now that the truth \[of natural selection\] is recognized by most cultivated people...now more than ever, in the history… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/and-yet-strange-to-say-now-that-the-truth-of-natural-selection-is/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“Their disappearance from the human family would be no great loss to the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay/their-disappearance-from-the-human-family-would-be-no-great-loss-to/) [Henry Clay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay/) > [Obviously there have been some very poor uses of evolution in the 20th century. 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Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [... no compelling data to support its anachronistic social Darwinism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/no-compelling-data-to-support-its-anachronistic-social-darwinism/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The predominant idea behind globalization, in its most virulent form, is an unpleasant kind of social Darwinism - that the world is for winners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/the-predominant-idea-behind-globalization-in-its-most-virulent-form/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) ## More by Alfred Russel Wallace > [Truth is born into this world only with pangs and tribulations, and every fresh truth is received unwillingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/truth-is-born-into-this-world-only-with-pangs-and-tribulations-and/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [Why do some die and some live? The answer was clearly, that on the whole the best fitted live. From the effects of disease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/why-do-some-die-and-some-live-the-answer-was-clearly-that-on-the/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [I think I have fairly heard and fairly weighed the evidence on both sides, and I remain an utter disbeliever in almost all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/i-think-i-have-fairly-heard-and-fairly-weighed-the-evidence-on-both/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [To expect the world to receive a new truth, or even an old truth, without challenging it, is to look for one of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/to-expect-the-world-to-receive-a-new-truth-or-even-an-old-truth/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [I spent, as you know, a year and a half in a clergyman's family and heard almost every Tuesday the very best, most earnest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/i-spent-as-you-know-a-year-and-a-half-in-a-clergyman-s-family-and/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [As well might it be said that, because we are ignorant of the laws by which metals are produced and trees developed, we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/as-well-might-it-be-said-that-because-we-are-ignorant-of-the-laws-by/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [It has been generally the custom of writers on natural history to take the habits and instincts of animals as the fixed point, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/it-has-been-generally-the-custom-of-writers-on-natural-history-to/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [In all works on Natural History, we constantly find details of the marvellous adaptation of animals to their food, their habits, and the localities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/in-all-works-on-natural-history-we-constantly-find-details-of-the/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [To say that mind is a product or function of protoplasm, or of its molecular changes, is to use words to which we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/to-say-that-mind-is-a-product-or-function-of-protoplasm-or-of-its/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [In less than eight years "The Origin of Species" has produced conviction in the minds of a majority of the most eminent living men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/in-less-than-eight-years-the-origin-of-species-has-produced/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [In one of my latest conversations with Darwin he expressed himself very gloomily on the future of humanity, on the ground that in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/in-one-of-my-latest-conversations-with-darwin-he-expressed-himself/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [If this is not done, future ages will certainly look back upon us as a people so immersed in the pursuit of wealth as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/if-this-is-not-done-future-ages-will-certainly-look-back-upon-us-as-a/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [There is, I conceive, no contradiction in believing that mind is at once the cause of matter and of the development of individualised human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-russel-wallace/there-is-i-conceive-no-contradiction-in-believing-that-mind-is-at/) [Alfred Russel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-russel-wallace/) > [Civilisation has ever accompanied emigration and conquest - 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