Life is like a very short visit to a toyshop between birth and death.
Desmond MorrisRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The pursuit of knowledge drives human existence, leading to continuous questioning and discovery.
Desmond Morris emphasizes that curiosity and the quest for understanding are fundamental to human survival and evolution. Rather than settling for what is known, humans continually seek new answers, which in turn generates more questions, reflecting an insatiable desire for knowledge and an adaptive strategy that has allowed our species to thrive.
Themes
CuriosityKnowledgeQuestionsSurvivalInvestigation
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the importance of lifelong learning, this quote can inspire students to ask more questions.
More from Desmond Morris
All quotes →Clearly, then, the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.
Desmond MorrisRead
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.
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...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.
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Or heritage and ideals, our code and standards - the things we live by and teach our children - are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.
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The reading of books, what is it but conversing with the wisest men of all ages and all countries.
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