Page:An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798).djvu/397

 a greater original susceptibility of parts. The difference, if there really is any observable difference, can only arise from their different situations. Exertion and activity, are in general absolutely necessary in one case, and are only optional in the other.

That the difficulties of life, contribute to generate talents, every days experience must convince us. The exertions that men find it necessary to make, in order to support themselves or families, frequently awaken faculties, that might otherwise have lain for ever dormant: and it has been commonly remarked, that new and extraordinary situations generally create minds adequate to grapple with the difficulties in which they are involved.