"The advantage of the animal over the vegetable kingdom is obvious. The cabbage, should its environment tend to become worse, must live it out, or die; the rabbit may move on in quest of a better."

"Man early discovered death. As soon as his evolution permitted, he made himself better devices for killing than the old natural ones of fang and claw...And to this day, his finest creative energy and technical skills are devoted to the same old task of making better and ever better killing weapons."

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"He flourished under misfortune, grew fat with famine, and out of his terrible struggle for life developed a preternatural intelligence."

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"The world, when it knows nothing else of him, measures a man by his clothes; but the man himself, if he be neither a genius or a philosopher, but merely a clay-born, measures himself by his pocket-book. He cannot help it, and can no more fling it from him than can the bashful young man his self-consciousness when crossing a ballroom floor."

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"Life was a matter of food and shelter. In order to get food and shelter men sold things. The merchant sold shoes, the politician sold his manhood, and the representative of the people, with exceptions, of course, sold his trust; while nearly all sold their honor."

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For more information about Jack London, please visit our Jack London author page with bibliography, key dates and links to even more information.