We’ve got ninety-nine per cent the same genes as any other person. We’ve got ninety per cent the same as a chimpanzee. We’ve got thirty per cent the same as a lettuce. Does that cheer you up at all? I love about the lettuce. It makes me feel I belong.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the shared genetic connections among all living beings, promoting a sense of belonging and interconnectedness.
Caryl Churchill emphasizes the remarkable genetic similarities between humans, animals, and even plants, suggesting that this interconnectedness can provide comfort and a sense of belonging. By reflecting on our shared biology, she invites us to appreciate our place in the broader tapestry of life, underscoring that we are all part of a larger community, whether human or otherwise.
In practice
In a science class discussing genetics and diversity among species.
There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as though a chink in the dark: light out of the past. It was actually pleasant, I think, to hear a kindly voice agin, bringing up memories of wind, and trees, and sun on the grass, and such forgotten things.
When a man begins to know himself a little he will see in himself many things that are bound to horrify him. So long as a man is not horrified at himself he knows nothing about himself.
Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.
An attempt to achieve the good by force is like an attempt to provide a man with a picture gallery at the price of cutting out his eyes.
Truth, which is simple and one, admits of no variety.
I think all of us, under certain circumstances, could be capable of some very despicable acts. And that's why, over the years, in my movies I've had characters who didn't care what people thought about them. We try to be as true to them as possible and maybe see part of ourselves in there that we may not like.
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