Excerpt from Conflict in Nature and Life: A Study of Antagonism in the Constitution of Things; For the Elucidation of the Problem of Good and Evil, and the Reconciliation of Optimism and Pessimism This last point is the subject of this volume. It is now over twenty years since it was first suggested to the writer's mind by observation and reflection on human nature and its experiences in life. The conception may not strike the reader as path breaking by any means, yet such has it been to the author. Each of the above-named acquisitions necessitated the dropping of something as error, which had previously been held as truth. This was not less the case with the last than with any of the others. It revolutionized/his method of looking at the possibili ties of life, and changed the direction of his efforts with regard to those possibilities. It seemed to have a practical use, as well as philosophical interest; and it occurred to him then to work it out in some of its scientific, historical, and practical relations, with the hope that it might be of interest to others, and perhaps, not altogether without a desirable influence on conduct. The writer has been in no haste to organize his study of the subject into a book, wishing it, whenever it might take form, to be as little crude as possible. Besides, he has been too busy with more immediate and pressing interests, to make rapid progress in the systematic study of a philosophical problem having such a multiplicity of connections as this. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.