--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Social evolution is a resultant of the…" description: "\"Social evolution is a resultant of the interaction of two wholly distinct factors: the individual ... bearing all the power of initiative and originati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e29/william-james-228_adopting_social-evolution-is-a-resultant-of-the-i_2464541.png" --- # Social evolution is a resultant of the interaction of two… ![“Social evolution is a resultant of the interaction of two wholly distinct factors: the individual ... bearing all the power of initiative and origination in his hands; and, second, the social environment with its power of adopting or rejecting both him and his gifts. Both factors are essential to…” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e29/william-james-228_adopting_social-evolution-is-a-resultant-of-the-i_2464541.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e29/william-james-228_adopting_social-evolution-is-a-resultant-of-the-i_2464541.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e29/william-james-228_adopting_social-evolution-is-a-resultant-of-the-i_2464541.png) > “Social evolution is a resultant of the interaction of two wholly distinct factors: the individual ... bearing all the power of initiative and origination in his hands; and, second, the social environment with its power of adopting or rejecting both him and his gifts. Both factors are essential to change. The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Social change depends on both individual initiative and the community’s response; each drives and sustains the other. **In simple terms:** Both people and society must act together for progress. Key Takeaway Balance personal drive with social support. Themes individualism collectivism change society psychology Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical insightful When to use this quote - leadership development - community organizing - innovation adoption - social movements Key Concepts agency social influence feedback loops Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals inspire community support? - How does community feedback shape personal initiative? A Different Perspective If either side dominates, change stalls or becomes chaotic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adopting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adopting/) [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Change Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-community-693448/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Essentials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essentials/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Evolution Resultant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution-resultant-693449/) [Factors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/factors/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Initiative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/initiative/) [Interaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interaction/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Rejecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejecting/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-environment/) [Social Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-evolution-450671/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) ## Related quotes > [A remarkable parallel, which I think has never been noticed, obtains between the facts of social evolution on the one hand, and of zological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/a-remarkable-parallel-which-i-think-has-never-been-noticed-obtains/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [If we are going to make the change from community to communitas, and not just end up with an unsustainable adrenaline-junkie culture, we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-hirsch/if-we-are-going-to-make-the-change-from-community-to-communitas-and/) [Alan Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-hirsch/) > [As athletes and pro sports franchises, we have the responsibility to use our platform to affect positive change in the community. I take it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vlade-divac/as-athletes-and-pro-sports-franchises-we-have-the-responsibility-to/) [Vlade Divac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vlade-divac/) > [“To change your life, love yourself. To change your community, love others. To change the world, love everyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/to-change-your-life-love-yourself-to-change-your-community-love/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [They don't want art that might actually change the community. They just want consumers. They don't want people to manufacture things. They'll do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malik-yusef/they-don-t-want-art-that-might-actually-change-the-community-they/) [Malik Yusef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malik-yusef/) > [I realized if you can change a classroom, you can change a community, and if you change enough communities you can change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-gruwell/i-realized-if-you-can-change-a-classroom-you-can-change-a-community/) [Erin Gruwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-gruwell/) > [Those who have the ability as African men to bring a change in a community that so desperately needs it are concentrating only on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-yaeger/those-who-have-the-ability-as-african-men-to-bring-a-change-in-a/) [Don Yaeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-yaeger/) > [“You can be in the vanguard of those that bring a change to the community and to the nation as a whole.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-can-be-in-the-vanguard-of-those-that-bring-a-change-to-the/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [We just have to convince other people that they have power. This is what they can do by participating to make change, not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolores-huerta/we-just-have-to-convince-other-people-that-they-have-power-this-is/) [Dolores Huerta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolores-huerta/) > [By bringing the voices of the ordinary people faced with extraordinary challenges to television screens around the world, I hope to affect change in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharmeen-obaid-chinoy/by-bringing-the-voices-of-the-ordinary-people-faced-with/) [Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharmeen-obaid-chinoy/) > [We understand bringing girls into the tech space is about giving them skills to create social impact and change in their community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-bryant/we-understand-bringing-girls-into-the-tech-space-is-about-giving-them/) [Kimberly Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-bryant/) > [The sentiment that I had a little trouble with was the idea that, "You change the school, you change the community." I couldn't wrap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viola-davis/the-sentiment-that-i-had-a-little-trouble-with-was-the-idea-that-you/) [Viola Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viola-davis/) > [The antidote to climate change is community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/starhawk/the-antidote-to-climate-change-is-community/) [Starhawk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/starhawk/) > [A community that sees so clearly its own disadvantage or its own hardships also has a harder time seeing its potential: its ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/a-community-that-sees-so-clearly-its-own-disadvantage-or-its-own/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [I thought I could make change by just working at ground level, but to change a community, you have to change policies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aja-brown/i-thought-i-could-make-change-by-just-working-at-ground-level-but-to/) [Aja Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aja-brown/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Adopting quotes > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Somehow destiny comes into play. These children end up with you and you end up with them. It's something quite magical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/somehow-destiny-comes-into-play-these-children-end-up-with-you-and/) [Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/) > [I'm definitely not opposed to adopting. I think that would be marvellous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-frost/i-m-definitely-not-opposed-to-adopting-i-think-that-would-be/) [Jo Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-frost/) > [I know a lot of people want to buy puppies, but adopting a dog who needs a home is doing something good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manu-ginobili/i-know-a-lot-of-people-want-to-buy-puppies-but-adopting-a-dog-who/) [Manu Ginobili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manu-ginobili/) > [I'm not at all against white people adopting black children, because we're all human beings who need to give love and be nurtured in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kola-boof/i-m-not-at-all-against-white-people-adopting-black-children-because/) [Kola Boof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kola-boof/) > [There are many examples of companies and countries that have improved their competitiveness and efficiency by adopting open source strategies. The creation of skills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-shuttleworth/there-are-many-examples-of-companies-and-countries-that-have-improved/) [Mark Shuttleworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-shuttleworth/) > [Save a life this Thanksgiving, and join me in starting a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one through Farm Sanctuary's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-degeneres/save-a-life-this-thanksgiving-and-join-me-in-starting-a-new-tradition/) [Ellen DeGeneres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-degeneres/) > [As Barbara Streisand discovered, adopting a militaristic posture against a tech-savvy mob of civil libertarians is not going to be of much help: Many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/as-barbara-streisand-discovered-adopting-a-militaristic-posture/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [I've learned a lot from being a chameleon, sort of adopting the musical personalities of who I was playing with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-denk/i-ve-learned-a-lot-from-being-a-chameleon-sort-of-adopting-the/) [Jeremy Denk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-denk/) > [“If the system were designed to protect adoptees, why do so many have to fight for their rights?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dashanne-stokes/if-the-system-were-designed-to-protect-adoptees-why-do-so-many-have/) [DaShanne Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dashanne-stokes/) > [Nevertheless, the number of farmers, small as well as large, who are adopting the new seeds and new technology is increasing very rapidly, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-borlaug/nevertheless-the-number-of-farmers-small-as-well-as-large-who-are/) [Norman Borlaug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-borlaug/) > [Refusing to lift sanctions and adopting tougher rhetoric toward Iran would not be partisan issues. Plenty of Democrats think that those actions are both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/refusing-to-lift-sanctions-and-adopting-tougher-rhetoric-toward-iran/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [I was adopting an Ethiopian child, that's not true. My house was haunted, that wasn't true. God, there's been so many rumours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adele/i-was-adopting-an-ethiopian-child-that-s-not-true-my-house-was/) [Adele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adele/) > [I'm not sure the least educated members of the population are missing out on the advances in medical technology as much as they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-jay-olshansky/i-m-not-sure-the-least-educated-members-of-the-population-are-missing/) [S. Jay Olshansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-jay-olshansky/) > [I have always done the opposite of what I was trained to do... Having little technical background, I became a photographer. Adopting a machine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/i-have-always-done-the-opposite-of-what-i-was-trained-to-do-having/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) [Browse all 198 Adopting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adopting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Social evolution is a resultant of the interaction of two wholly distinct factors: the individual ... bearing all the power of initiative and origination in his hands; and, second, the social environment with its power of adopting or rejecting both him and his gifts. Both factors are essential to change. The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. 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