--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you have a natural genetic tan…" description: "\"When you have a natural genetic tan developed over centuries and many generations, the idea of soaking up rays by the pool has never made sense.\" — Abr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/abraham-verghese-1533_centuries_when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-deve_3161714.jpg" --- # When you have a natural genetic tan developed over… ![“When you have a natural genetic tan developed over centuries and many generations, the idea of soaking up rays by the pool has never made sense.” quote by Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/abraham-verghese-1533_centuries_when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-deve_3161714.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/abraham-verghese-1533_centuries_when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-deve_3161714.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/abraham-verghese-1533_centuries_when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-deve_3161714.jpg) > “When you have a natural genetic tan developed over centuries and many generations, the idea of soaking up rays by the pool has never made sense.” [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Natural genetic traits evolve over generations, making modern sun‑bathing habits seem irrational **In simple terms:** Our bodies are shaped by long‑term adaptation Key Takeaway Respect evolutionary adaptations in health choices Themes biology evolution health culture Mood thoughtful informative Type medical cultural When to use this quote - skin care - public health advice - travel planning - outdoor work Key Concepts genetic adaptation environmental exposure Questions to Reflect On - Do you consider ancestral traits when making health decisions? - When is it appropriate to challenge inherited habits? A Different Perspective May ignore individual variability and modern medical knowledge ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [To me the central premise is about friendships within people of different generations when you take out the idea how age creates a barrier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-star/to-me-the-central-premise-is-about-friendships-within-people-of/) [Darren Star](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-star/) > [“What is it about the moment you fall in love? How can such small measure of time contain such enormity? I suddenly realize why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/what-is-it-about-the-moment-you-fall-in-love-how-can-such-small/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations—all of them rearranging themselves so that this precise, remarkable intersection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/the-moment-you-fall-in-love-feels-like-it-has-centuries-behind-it-2/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations - all of them rearranging themselves so this precise, remarkable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/the-moment-you-fall-in-love-feels-like-it-has-centuries-behind-it/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [On my mother's side, I'm English, so that's where the freckles come from. On my father's side, I'm German, and he has the fantastic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-feuerriegel/on-my-mother-s-side-i-m-english-so-that-s-where-the-freckles-come/) [Dan Feuerriegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-feuerriegel/) > [I know white clothing is supposed to enhance that summer glow, but writers don't tan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diablo-cody/i-know-white-clothing-is-supposed-to-enhance-that-summer-glow-but/) [Diablo Cody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diablo-cody/) > [I hate being tan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-malkmus/i-hate-being-tan/) [Stephen Malkmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-malkmus/) > [I don't want a tan, but I do love blushes in colors that give you that whole sun-kissed thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-lewis/i-don-t-want-a-tan-but-i-do-love-blushes-in-colors-that-give-you-that/) [Juliette Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliette-lewis/) > [Everyone looks and feels better when they have a tan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vogue-williams/everyone-looks-and-feels-better-when-they-have-a-tan/) [Vogue Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vogue-williams/) > [I really love Penelope Cruz, because she has the tan skin. 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If I see a student or house staff cry, I take great faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-ve-never-bought-this-idea-of-taking-a-therapeutic-distance-if-i-see/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [I love to read poetry but I haven't written anything that I'm willing to show anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-love-to-read-poetry-but-i-haven-t-written-anything-that-i-m-willing/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [We come unbidden into this life, and if we are lucky we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death which, lest we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/we-come-unbidden-into-this-life-and-if-we-are-lucky-we-find-a-purpose/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [I think America is really in denial about the degree to which residents, particularly foreign medical graduates, man the county hospitals of this country,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-think-america-is-really-in-denial-about-the-degree-to-which/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“Do they listen?" He held up a finger. "Every year one does," he said, ginning, "But that one makes it worthwhile. Even Jesus only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/do-they-listen-he-held-up-a-finger-every-year-one-does-he-said/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“It seems we humans never learn. And so we relearn the lesson every generation and then want to write epistles. We proselytize to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/it-seems-we-humans-never-learn-and-so-we-relearn-the-lesson-every/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [It was all I had, all I've ever had, the only currency, the only proof that I was alive. Memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/it-was-all-i-had-all-i-ve-ever-had-the-only-currency-the-only-proof/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“There it was, Hema must have thought; it was both the sorry and the thank-you that was so long overdue, and the funny thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/there-it-was-hema-must-have-thought-it-was-both-the-sorry-and-the/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“This is my life, I thought, as my taxi slogged through heavy traffic and inched through the tunnel to Logan Airport. I have excised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/this-is-my-life-i-thought-as-my-taxi-slogged-through-heavy-traffic/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“I could see that the almost mystical aura of this legendary surgeon -- the single-mindedness, the dedication, the skill -- was mere surface. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-could-see-that-the-almost-mystical-aura-of-this-legendary-surgeon/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“As a child I'd longed for Thomas Stone or at least the idea of him. So many mornings I waited for him at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/as-a-child-i-d-longed-for-thomas-stone-or-at-least-the-idea-of-him-so/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“The reader, knowing nothing about the ‘dark continent,’ filled in the blanks. Pictured Stone in a tent, kerosene lamp held up by a Hottentot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/the-reader-knowing-nothing-about-the-dark-continent-filled-in-the/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“This was what growing up was about: hide the corpse, don't bare your heart, do make assumptions about the motives of others. They're certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/this-was-what-growing-up-was-about-hide-the-corpse-don-t-bare-your/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“And as for my father? No, he wouldn't ever walk through those gates; I now knew that. Whatever Thomas Stone had, wherever he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/and-as-for-my-father-no-he-wouldn-t-ever-walk-through-those-gates-i/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“... telling herself stories about herself in a singsong voice, creating her own mythology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/telling-herself-stories-about-herself-in-a-singsong-voice-creating/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) [Explore all 230 Abraham Verghese quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) ## More Centuries quotes > [Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ledeen/iranians-hate-arabs-they-re-a-fairly-well-educated-population-and/) [Michael Ledeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ledeen/) > [“Time overlaps itself. A breath breathed from a passing breeze is not the whole wind, neither is it just the last of what has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/time-overlaps-itself-a-breath-breathed-from-a-passing-breeze-is-not/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [The institution of marriage, if you look at it over many centuries, has come and gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/the-institution-of-marriage-if-you-look-at-it-over-many-centuries-has/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) > [A catechism is simply a tool for teaching the fundamentals of the faith. Unlike a creed or confession, a catechism uses questions and answers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-deyoung/a-catechism-is-simply-a-tool-for-teaching-the-fundamentals-of-the/) [Kevin DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-deyoung/) > [The web of time - the strands of which approach one another, bifurcate, intersect, or ignore each other through the centuries - embraces "every"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-web-of-time-the-strands-of-which-approach-one-another-bifurcate/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Truth takes no account of centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/truth-takes-no-account-of-centuries/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [These movies belonged to the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries that period of great, unsustainable, and hedonistic prosperity, driven by the burning of Earth's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-charles-wilson/these-movies-belonged-to-the-twentieth-and-early-twenty-first/) [Robert Charles Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-charles-wilson/) > [“love was an unstable reaction with a half-life of about eight months. Bullshit, I said, and accused him of wearing cultural blinders; thirty centuries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-haldeman/love-was-an-unstable-reaction-with-a-half-life-of-about-eight-months/) [Joe Haldeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-haldeman/) > [What if miliseconds influence centuries?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cowley/what-if-miliseconds-influence-centuries/) Robert Cowley > [My only market analysis was to look around and see that, in one way or another, most watches are inspired by watches that were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mille/my-only-market-analysis-was-to-look-around-and-see-that-in-one-way-or/) [Richard Mille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mille/) > [For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-paton/for-it-is-the-dawn-that-has-come-as-it-has-come-for-a-thousand/) [Alan Paton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-paton/) > [If the truth be told, we are a society that is dripping in racism. This is not in the least surprising. For the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-jacques/if-the-truth-be-told-we-are-a-society-that-is-dripping-in-racism-this/) [Martin Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-jacques/) > [“The Age of Intellect is accompanied by surprising advances in natural science. In the ninth century, for example, in the age of Mamun, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bagot-glubb/the-age-of-intellect-is-accompanied-by-surprising-advances-in-natural/) [John Bagot Glubb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bagot-glubb/) > [People have been marrying and bringing up children for centuries now. Nothing has ever come of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-green/people-have-been-marrying-and-bringing-up-children-for-centuries-now/) [Celia Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-green/) > [We read that Adam and Methuselah lived so many centuries; at that time, it was the custom to marry in the family - marry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-heindel/we-read-that-adam-and-methuselah-lived-so-many-centuries-at-that-time/) [Max Heindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-heindel/) Browse all 333 Centuries quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you have a natural genetic tan developed over centuries and many generations, the idea of soaking up rays by the pool has never made sense.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abraham Verghese" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-developed-over-centuries-and-many/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Centuries" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-developed-over-centuries-and-many/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/abraham-verghese-1533_centuries_when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-deve_3161714.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/abraham-verghese-1533_centuries_when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-deve_3161714.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/abraham-verghese-1533_centuries_when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-deve_3161714.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you have a natural genetic tan developed over centuries and many generations, the idea of soaking up…” — Abraham Verghese", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Abraham Verghese", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When you have a natural genetic...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-developed-over-centuries-and-many/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/when-you-have-a-natural-genetic-tan-developed-over-centuries-and-many/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```