The exact words
Where the line really comes from
In 1963 Leon C. Megginson, a professor of management at Louisiana State University, spoke to the Southwestern Social Science Association about what American business could learn from Europe. Explaining why companies had to keep changing, he summarized Darwin in his own words: according to the Origin of Species, it is not the most intellectual or the strongest species that survives, but the one best able to adapt to its changing environment. The speech was printed in the association’s journal.
Megginson was clear that this was his interpretation. Over the following decades, though, his sentence was shortened, polished and turned into a direct quotation from Darwin. By the 2000s it appeared in management books, government speeches and even, for a time, on public displays, always as Darwin’s words.
What Darwin actually argued
The Darwin Correspondence Project at Cambridge lists this line among things Darwin never said. It also misstates his theory. Natural selection does not work by individuals adapting to change; it works because individuals that happen to inherit useful traits tend to survive and leave more offspring, so those traits become more common over generations. “Adaptable” in the business sense, meaning willing to change strategy, is a different idea.
How to use it
The saying is a perfectly good business maxim. Credit it to Megginson, or to “a well-known summary of Darwin,” and you will be both accurate and slightly more interesting than everyone else quoting it.
What people get wrong
A line from Darwin's On the Origin of Species.
A 1963 interpretation of Darwin by a business professor, Leon Megginson. Darwin's actual theory is about which inherited traits help organisms leave more offspring, not about individuals adapting.
Timeline
- 1859Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species. It does not contain the famous sentence.
- 1963Leon C. Megginson, a management professor at Louisiana State University, gives a speech applying Darwin's ideas to business, using the sentence as his own summary.
- 1970s–1990sThe summary is shortened and quoted as if Darwin wrote it.
- TodayFrequently quoted in business presentations and political speeches as a Darwin quote.
Use it in a speech
Questions people ask
Did Charles Darwin say “it is not the strongest of the species that survives”?
No. The sentence is not in any of Darwin's books or letters. It comes from a 1963 speech by Leon C. Megginson, a management professor at Louisiana State University, who was summarizing Darwin in his own words.
Is the quote an accurate summary of Darwin?
Only loosely. Natural selection works on populations over generations, favoring inherited traits that help organisms survive and reproduce in their environment. It is not about individuals choosing to adapt.
Where can I find Darwin's real words?
His books and correspondence are freely available through Darwin Online and the Darwin Correspondence Project at Cambridge.
Cite this quote
Don't cite this line as Charles Darwin's words. There is no reliable source showing they said it. The real source is Leon C. Megginson, speech to the Southwestern Social Science Association, so cite that instead. If you need to mention it, say it is “often attributed to Charles Darwin” and, if you want a reference, cite this page:
Sources
- Leon C. Megginson, “Lessons from Europe for American Business,” Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 1 (1963).
- Darwin Correspondence Project, University of Cambridge, “Six things Darwin never said.”
- Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (1859). Darwin Online.