--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In true natural selection, if a body has…" description: "\"In true natural selection, if a body has what it takes to survive, its genes automatically survive because they are inside it. So the genes that surviv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/richard-dawkins-115_body_in-true-natural-selection-if-a-body-has_2993300.jpg" --- # In true natural selection, if a body has what it takes to… ![“In true natural selection, if a body has what it takes to survive, its genes automatically survive because they are inside it. So the genes that survive tend to be, automatically, those genes that confer on bodies the qualities that assist them to survive.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/richard-dawkins-115_body_in-true-natural-selection-if-a-body-has_2993300.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/richard-dawkins-115_body_in-true-natural-selection-if-a-body-has_2993300.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b1/richard-dawkins-115_body_in-true-natural-selection-if-a-body-has_2993300.jpg) > “In true natural selection, if a body has what it takes to survive, its genes automatically survive because they are inside it. So the genes that survive tend to be, automatically, those genes that confer on bodies the qualities that assist them to survive.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Natural selection favors genes that enhance survival; thus, the traits that help organisms survive are passed on automatically. **In simple terms:** Survival‑enhancing genes persist through natural selection. Key Takeaway Understand how evolutionary pressures shape behavior. Themes evolution genes survival Mood analytical thoughtful Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - health policy - education curricula - environmental planning Key Concepts biology adaptation inheritance Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect your view of human behavior? - What ethical implications arise from gene‑focused thinking? A Different Perspective Complex traits involve many genes and environment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Natural selection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-selection/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) ## Related quotes > [Time and time again, our species has escaped existential threats by reinventing ourselves, finding new skills not coded in our genes to survive new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/time-and-time-again-our-species-has-escaped-existential-threats-by/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [“Genes are merely codes. 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And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/people-will-say-you-re-never-going-to-convince-me-that-something-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Design can never be an ultimate explanation for anything. It can only be a proximate explanation. A plane or a car is explained by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/design-can-never-be-an-ultimate-explanation-for-anything-it-can-only/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [For me, the level at which natural selection causes the phenomenon of adaptation is the level of the replicator - the gene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/for-me-the-level-at-which-natural-selection-causes-the-phenomenon-of/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation forthe existence and apparently purposeful form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/natural-selection-the-blind-unconscious-automatic-process-which/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Mutation is random; natural selection is the very opposite of random.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/mutation-is-random-natural-selection-is-the-very-opposite-of-random/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Natural selection is anything but random.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/natural-selection-is-anything-but-random/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The earliest form of natural selection was simply a selection of stable forms and a rejection of unstable ones. There is no mystery about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-earliest-form-of-natural-selection-was-simply-a-selection-of/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The right to live does not connote the right of each man to reproduce his kind ... As we lessen the stringency of natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pearson/the-right-to-live-does-not-connote-the-right-of-each-man-to-reproduce/) [Karl Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pearson/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. 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And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. 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If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. 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