Individuals are not stable things, they are fleeting. Chromosomes too are shuffled into oblivion, like hands of cards soon after they are dealt. But the cards themselves survive the shuffling. The cards are the genes. The genes are not destroyed by crossing-over, they merely change partners and march on. Of course they march on. That is their business. They are the replicators and we are their survival machines. When we have served our purpose we are cast aside. But genes are denizens of geological time: genes are forever.

Summary

This quote highlights the transient nature of individuals compared to the enduring existence of genes. While individuals may be temporary and subject to change, genes, represented metaphorically as cards, persist and adapt through the process of crossing-over. Genes, as replicators, have an ongoing purpose of ensuring their survival and propagation, employing us as their temporary "survival machines." Once we have fulfilled our role in their survival, we are discarded. Genes, being inhabitants of geological time, are seen as timeless entities that outlast and transcend individual lives.

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