Quotes from work
Hereditary Genius

Francis Galton

Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry Into Its Laws and Consequences is a book by Francis Galton about the supposed genetic inheritance of intelligence. It was first published in 1869 by Macmillan Publishers. The first American edition was published by D. Appleton & Company in 1870. It was Galton's first major work written from a hereditarian perspective. It was later referred to as "the first serious study of the inheritance of intelligence" and as "the beginning of scientific interest in the topic of genius." In the book, Galton demonstrated that the sons of men who he considered "eminent" in a given profession were more likely to achieve such eminence themselves than if they were not closely related to eminent individuals. He interpreted this pattern as evidence for genetic transmission of human intelligence, though it was later shown that his results were entirely compatible with cultural inheritance as well.

“There is a steady check in an old civilisation upon the fertility of the abler classes: the improvident and unambitious are those who chiefly keep up the breed. So the race gradually deteriorates, becoming in each successive generation less fit for a high civilisation.”

Francis Galton Hereditary Genius

Hereditary Genius (1869), p. 414
Hereditary Genius (1869)

“I HAVE no patience with the hypothesis occasionally expressed, and often implied, especially in tales written to teach children to be good, that babies are born pretty much alike, and that the sole agencies in creating differences between boy and boy, and man and man, are steady application and moral effort. It is in the most unqualified manner that I object to pretensions of natural equality. The experiences of the nursery, the school, the University, and of professional careers, are a chain of proofs to the contrary.”

Francis Galton Hereditary Genius

Hereditary Genius (1869; 2005), p. 56
Hereditary Genius (1869)