QuoteProject
They're animals, all right. But why are you so goddam sure that makes us human beings?
Stephen King
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote challenges the notion of what it means to be human in comparison to animals.

Stephen King's quote provokes deep reflection on the nature of humanity by contrasting it with the animal kingdom. It questions the assumptions we have about human superiority and highlights the complexities of our behavior and morality, suggesting that being human isn't purely defined by our biological status but by our choices and actions.

Themes

HumanityAnimalsNaturePhilosophyMorality

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about the ethical treatment of animals, this quote can be invoked to explore the differences between humans and animals.

More from Stephen King

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Stephen KingRead
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Stephen KingRead
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Stephen KingRead
That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
Stephen KingRead
Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
Stephen KingRead

Similar quotes

To be realistic today is to be visionary. To be realistic is to be starry-eyed.
Hubert H. HumphreyRead
According to the most common interpretation of biblical prophecy, Jesus will return only after things have gone horribly awry. Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency.
Sam HarrisRead
What are kings, when regiment is gone, but perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
Christopher MarloweRead
Liberty is not just an idea, an abstract principle. It is power, effective power to do specific things. There is no such thing as liberty in general; liberty, so to speak, at large.
John DeweyRead
Think of our physical sustenance. It is truly heaven-sent. The necessities of air, food, and water all come to us as gifts from a loving Heavenly Father.
Russell M. NelsonRead
The less you eat, drink and read books; the less you go to the theatre, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save-the greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor dust will devour-your capital. The less you are, the more you have; the less you express your own life, the greater is your alienated life-the greater is the store of your estranged being.
Karl MarxRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Stephen King | QuoteProject