The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

members of that sex require, as a rule, little effort
in order to marry if they wish. For members of the
sex which is in the majority, however, the opposite
is the case. The amount of effort and thought
expended in this direction by women where they
are in the majority is obvious to anyone who will
study the advertisements in women’s magazines.
Men, where they are in a majority, frequently adopt
more expeditious methods, such as skill with the
revolver. This is natural, since a majority of men
occurs most frequently on the border-line of
civilisation. I do not know what men would do if a
discriminating pestilence caused them to become a
majority in England; they might have to revert to
the manners of gallants in a bygone age.
The amount of effort involved in the successful
rearing of children is so evident that probably no
one would deny it. Countries which believe in
resignation and what is mistakenly called a
‘spiritual’ view of life are countries with a high
infant mortality. Medicine, hygiene, asepsis,
suitable diet, are things not achieved without