Charles Fort on Darwinism

The fittest survive.

What is meant by the fittest?

Not the strongest; not the cleverest—

Weakness and stupidity everywhere survive.

There is no way of determining fitness except in that a thing does survive.

"Fitness," then, is only another name for "survival."

Darwinism:

That survivors survive.

--from The Book of the Damned by Charles Fort

I purchased this all-in-one volume of The Complete Books of Charles Fort several years ago, and so far have only scanned through it, snatching bits and pieces of it for my own amusement. I began reading it in earnest a few days ago, and I hope I can make it straight through from beginning to end.

Fort's writing style--if he has one--is idiosyncratic and perhaps even whimsical; although he is serious about what he does, he is not always particularly serious about how he does it. (Ye gads, I almost used the word "quirky" in there).

Further quotes to follow as I wend my way through this ponderous tome.