"Females choose; their choosiness is inherited; they prefer exaggerated ornaments; exaggerated ornaments are a burden to males."

Matt Ridley Economics See all quotes by Matt Ridley →

React to this quote

More by Matt Ridley

“As every bird-watcher knows, the beauty of a bird's song is inversely correlated with the colourfulness of its plumage.”

“...compare mankind with other animals that share our highly social habits: with colonial birds, monkeys and dolphins. As we shall see, the lesson they teach is that we are designed for a system of monogamy plagued by adultery.”

“Life is a Sisyphean race, run ever faster towards a finishing line that is merely the start of the next race.”

“People are attracted to people of high reproductive and genetic potential -the healthy, the fit and the powerful. The consequences of this fact, which goes under the name of sexual selection, are bizarre in the extreme.”

“Evolving is not a goal but a means to solving a problem.”

“In behavior, as in appearance, every human individual is unique.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Do you suppose that God takes himself seriously? I know a Zen master, Joshu Sasaki, who has let it be known that the best form of meditation is to stand up with your hands on your hips and roar with l…"

— Alan Watts

Philosophy1915–1973

#humor

"Thereby, we have weakened ourselves and fallen prey to the ills that the loss of invigorating mass contact brings. Millions of ordinary Congress workers throughout the country are full of enthusiasm f…"

— Rajiv Gandhi

Politics1944–1991

#life

"The will to procreate, as lust, engenders wealth and leads the human race to demoralisation , whereas the will to resuscitate, when the problem of returning life is seen as the purpose of conscious be…"

— Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov

Philosophy1829–1903

#philosophy

"Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest. They boast about victory over death. Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as…"

— Chinua Achebe

Literature1930–2013

#nature