---
title: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most in… — Charles Darwin Quote #53 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change. — a quote by Charles Darwin."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.

[Charles Darwin](https://quotesby.net/Charles-Darwin)\#53

[Survival](https://quotesby.net/Charles-Darwin/survival/)[Adaptability](https://quotesby.net/topics/adaptability/)[Change](https://quotesby.net/topics/change/)[Wisdom](https://quotesby.net/topics/wisdom/)

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## About this quote

What does it mean?Survival depends on adaptability rather than strength or intelligence.In plain termsBeing able to change is more important than being strong.What can you take from it?Flexibility ensures survival in changing environments.

### Where it applies

- business strategy
- personal growth

### Putting it to work

- update skills regularly
- adjust plans to conditions

### Questions to consider

- How do you adapt to sudden changes?
- Is flexibility always better than expertise?

### Another view

Sometimes strength or intelligence are the most adaptive traits.

## More from Charles Darwin

1. > Although I did not think much about the existence of a personal God until a considerably later period of my life, I will here give the vague conclusions to whi…

[Permalink to quote \#52](https://quotesby.net/Charles-Darwin/52/ "Permalink to quote 52")
2. > A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.

[Permalink to quote \#54](https://quotesby.net/Charles-Darwin/54/ "Permalink to quote 54")
3. > I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believ…

[Permalink to quote \#51](https://quotesby.net/Charles-Darwin/51/ "Permalink to quote 51")

## Related quotes

1. > Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

[Bruce Lee](https://quotesby.net/Bruce-Lee)[Bruce Lee quote \#127](https://quotesby.net/Bruce-Lee/127/ "Permalink to quote 127")
2. > The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow.

[William Osler](https://quotesby.net/William-Osler)[William Osler quote \#2](https://quotesby.net/William-Osler/2/ "Permalink to quote 2")
3. > I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.

[Everett Dirksen](https://quotesby.net/Everett-Dirksen)[Everett Dirksen quote \#2](https://quotesby.net/Everett-Dirksen/2/ "Permalink to quote 2")

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