Written by a Polish-Russian scholar Tadeusz Zielinski, "Our Debt to Antiquity" (1903) was a successful attempt to combat the prejudiced view that classical education resists progress. Zielinski argued that Darwinian laws manifest themselves in his discipline in three aspects: (1) in the emergence of Greek and Latin languages as a result of the selection of word-forms and expressions that testify to certain features of national character; (2) in the persistence of classical education across many centuries as the 'fittest' educational system; (3) in the selection of schoolchildren for national elites. Although Zielinski's application of Darwinian laws of selection to human society may appear reactionary to a modern reader, this article argues that in doing so he defends classical education both from the left-wing populists and from attempts at abuse from the right. Moreover, his thoughts prompt modern scholars to reflect on the real presence of Social Darwinism in our present educational system.