---
title: "1 Living Organism Quotes By Iain McGilchrist"
description: "1 Living Organism quotes by Iain McGilchrist. Plus more from Iain McGilchrist and more Living Organism sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_architect_the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-t_1005297.jpg"
---

> [The genome was once thought to be just the blueprint for a living organism, like a combination of the architect's plan for a building and the builder's list of supplies. It specified the parts, the building blocks, and, somehow, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-the-blueprint-for-a-living/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_architect_the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-t_1005297.jpg)

## More by Iain McGilchrist

> [Attention may sound dull, but it is an essential aspect of consciousness. In fact, it governs what it is that we turn out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/attention-may-sound-dull-but-it-is-an-essential-aspect-of/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [“Our talent for division, for seeing the parts, is of staggering importance – second only to our capacity to transcend it, in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/our-talent-for-division-for-seeing-the-parts-is-of-staggering/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [Perspective in art has receded along with harmony in music: We tend more and more to see the world as a heap of intrinsically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/perspective-in-art-has-receded-along-with-harmony-in-music-we-tend/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [To understand something, whether we are aware of it or not, depends on choosing a model. We get to understand what we see by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/to-understand-something-whether-we-are-aware-of-it-or-not-depends-on/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [I trained in medicine after pursuing an academic career in the humanities, mainly because of my interest in the relationship between mind and body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/i-trained-in-medicine-after-pursuing-an-academic-career-in-the/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [We have 26,000 genes. But a blind, millimetre-long roundworm with only 959 cells in total already has over 19,000.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/we-have-26-000-genes-but-a-blind-millimetre-long-roundworm-with-only/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [“When Lear cries, ‘Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts?’, we could reply, on one level, yes – a defect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/when-lear-cries-is-there-any-cause-in-nature-that-makes-these-hard/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [The genome was once thought to be just the blueprint for a living organism, like a combination of the architect's plan for a building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-the-blueprint-for-a-living/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [“Language enables the left hemisphere to represent the world ‘off-line’, a conceptual version, distinct from the world of experience, and shielded from the immediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/language-enables-the-left-hemisphere-to-represent-the-world-off-line/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [Being uprooted from your own culture, provided you take with you the way of thinking and being that characterises the more integrated social culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/being-uprooted-from-your-own-culture-provided-you-take-with-you-the/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [“Every thing that purports to be the truth is, according to Heidegger, inevitably an approximation and true things, things that really are, rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/every-thing-that-purports-to-be-the-truth-is-according-to-heidegger/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [Over recent years, urbanisation, globalisation and the destruction of local cultures has led to a rise in the prevalence of mental illness in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/over-recent-years-urbanisation-globalisation-and-the-destruction-of/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [“If there is a tendency for the right hemisphere to be more sorrowful and prone to depression, this can, in my view, be seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/if-there-is-a-tendency-for-the-right-hemisphere-to-be-more-sorrowful/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [In Shakespeare, unique individuals repudiate the stereotypes demanded by the structure of the play: Shylock commands our sympathy, Barnardine refuses to be hanged. Individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/in-shakespeare-unique-individuals-repudiate-the-stereotypes-demanded/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

> [The human genome contains so much data that, it has been calculated, it would fill 43 volumes of Webster's International Dictionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/the-human-genome-contains-so-much-data-that-it-has-been-calculated-it/)

[Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/iain-mcgilchrist/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Living Organism Quotes By Iain McGilchrist",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The genome was once thought to be just the blueprint for a living organism, like a combination of the architect's plan for a building and the builder's list of supplies. It specified the parts, the building blocks, and, somehow, the design of the whole, the way in which they are to be put together.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Iain McGilchrist"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-the-blueprint-for-a-living/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_architect_the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-t_1005297.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_architect_the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-t_1005297.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_architect_the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-t_1005297.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The genome was once thought to be just the blueprint for a living organism, like a combination of the…” — Iain McGilchrist",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/iain-mcgilchrist/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/iain-mcgilchrist/",
            "name": "Living Organism Quotes by Iain McGilchrist",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/iain-mcgilchrist/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_architect_the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-t_1005297.jpg"
            },
            "description": "1 Living Organism quotes by Iain McGilchrist. Plus more from Iain McGilchrist and more Living Organism sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/iain-mcgilchrist/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/iain-mcgilchrist/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Living Organism",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Iain McGilchrist",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organism/iain-mcgilchrist/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```