We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species.
Desmond MorrisRead
Clearly, then, the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that cities, rather than being mere collections of buildings and structures, are environments that reflect human behavior and social dynamics.
Desmond Morris uses the metaphor of a 'human zoo' to illustrate how urban environments are intricately designed and populated by humans, reflecting their behaviors, interactions, and societal tendencies. He implies that just as zoo animals are observed and studied, people in cities exhibit unique patterns and structures that can be analyzed to understand humanity's social nature. This perspective challenges the traditional view of cities as merely functional spaces and instead positions them as dynamic arenas of human experience.
Themes
CityHuman NatureUrban LifeSocial BehaviorMetaphor
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about urban development, one might say this quote to emphasize the need for designing cities that cater to human well-being.
More from Desmond Morris
All quotes βLife is like a very short visit to a toyshop between birth and death.
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We read off the many signals that our companions' clothes transmit to us in every social encounter. In this way, clothing is as much a part of human body language as gestures, facial expressions and postures.Even those people who insist that they despise attention to clothing, and dress as casually as possible, are making quite specific comments on their social roles and their attitudes towards the culture in which they live.
Desmond MorrisRead
...In little more than a single century from 1820 to 19450, no less than fifty-nine million human animals were killed in inter-group clashes of one sort or another.... We describe these killings as men behaving "like animals," but if we could find a wild animal that showed signs of acting this way, it would be more precise to describe it as behaving like men.
Desmond MorrisRead
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