Chapter 5, "Fighting" (p. 146)
“

To sum up then, the best solution for ensuring world peace is the widespread promotion of contraception or abortion. Abortion is a drastic measure and can involve serious emotional disturbance. Furthermore, once a zygote has been formed by the act of fertilization it constitutes a new individual member of society, and its destruction is, in effect, an act of aggression, which is the very pattern of behaviour that we are attempting to control. Contraception is obviously preferable, and any religious or other ‘moralizing’ factions that oppose it must face the fact that they are engaged in dangerous war-mongering.

— Desmond Morris

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "To sum up then, the best solution for ensuring world peace is the widespread promotion of contraception or abortion. Abortion is a drastic measure and can involve serious emotional disturbance. Furthermore, once a zygote has been formed by the act of fertilization it constitutes a new individual member of society, and its destruction is, in effect, an act of aggression, which is the very pattern of behaviour that we are attempting to control. Contraception is obviously preferable, and any religious or other ‘moralizing’ factions that oppose it must face the fact that they are engaged in dangerous war-mongering." in the context of "Chapter 5, "Fighting" (p. 146)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Desmond Morris" (Quotes, The Naked Ape (1967): All page numbers are from the mass market edition published by Dell, 9th printing (November 1969). All spelling, italics, and hyphenation are as rendered in the book) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Desmond Morris

About Desmond Morris

Desmond John Morris, FZS (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and popular author in human sociobiology, as well as a surrealist painter.