Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-south-w… - Aldous Huxley

Every species, except the human, chose immediate, short-range success by means of specialization. But specialization always leads into blind alleys. It is only by remaining precariously generalized that an organism can advance towards that rational intelligence which is its compensation for not having a body and instincts perfectly adapted to one particular kind of environment.

"Homer was wrong," wrote Heracleitus of Ephesus. "Homer was wrong in saying: 'Would that strife might perish from among gods and men!' He did not see that he was praying for the destruction of the universe; for if his prayer were heard, all things would pass away." These are the words on which the superhumanists should meditate. Aspiring toward a consistent perfection, they are aspiring toward annihilation. The Hindus had the wit to see and the courage to proclaim the fact; Nirvana, the goal of their striving, is nothingness. Wherever life exists, there also is inconsistency, division, strife.

En contraste con las masas, los intelectuales tienen afición a la racionalidad e interés por los hechos. Su hábito mental crítico los hace resistentes a la clase de propaganda que funciona también sobre la mayoría. Entre las masas "el instinto es supremo y del instinto surge la fe... Mientras la sana gente común estrecha instintivamente sus filas para formar la comunidad de un pueblo ( bajo un Jefe, sobra decirlo ), los intelectuales van de un lado a otro, como gallinas en un gallinero. Con ellos no se puede hacer historia; no pueden ser utilizados como elementos componentes de una comunidad."