The instinct becomes
more powerful than any other, and can override any other, even fear
itself; for it works directly in the service of the species, while
the other instincts work primarily in the service of the individual
life, for which Nature cares little.... When we follow up the
evolution of this instinct to the highest animal level, we find
among the apes the most remarkable examples of its operation. Thus
in one species the mother is said to carry her young one clasped in
one arm uninterruptedly for several months, never letting go of it
in all her wanderings. This instinct is no less strong in many
human mothers, in whom, of course, it becomes more or less
intellectualized and organized as the most essential constituent of
the sentiment of parental love. Like other species, the human
species is dependent upon this instinct for its continual
existence and welfare. It is true that reason, working in the
service of the egotistic impulses and sentiments, often circumvents
the ends of this instinct and sets up habits which are incompatible
with it. But when that occurs on a large scale in any society, that
society is doomed to rapid decay. But the instinct itself can never
die out save with the disappearance of the human species itself; it
is kept strong and effective just because those families and races
and nations in which it weakens become rapidly supplanted by those
in which it is strong.
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