Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained; most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources.

The exception to Spencer's growing conservativism was that he remained throughout his life an ardent opponent of imperialism and militarism. Through this paradigm Spencer aimed to reconcile the associationist psychology of Mill's Logic the notion that human mind was constructed from atomic sensations held together by the laws of the association of ideas with the apparently more 'scientific' theory of phrenology which located specific mental functions in specific parts of the brain. At Spencer's funeral the Indian nationalist leader Shyamji Krishnavarma announced a donation of £1000 to establish a lectureship at Oxford University in tribute to Spencer and his work.

This term strongly suggests natural selection yet as Spencer extended evolution into realms of sociology and ethics he also made use of Lamarckism. " As a polymath he contributed to a wide range of subjects including ethics religion anthropology economics political theory philosophy biology sociology and psychology. He was "an enthusiastic exponent of evolution" and even "wrote about evolution before Darwin did.