--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For there is a growing apprehension that…" description: "\"For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a rat-race in a trap: living organisms, including people, are merely tubes which put things in at..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67f/alan-watts-587_apprehension_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_2949224.jpg" --- # For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a… ![“For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a rat-race in a trap: living organisms, including people, are merely tubes which put things in at one end and let them out at the other, which which both keeps them doing it and in the long run wears them out. So to keep the farce going, the…” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67f/alan-watts-587_apprehension_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_2949224.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67f/alan-watts-587_apprehension_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_2949224.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67f/alan-watts-587_apprehension_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_2949224.jpg) > “For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a rat-race in a trap: living organisms, including people, are merely tubes which put things in at one end and let them out at the other, which which both keeps them doing it and in the long run wears them out. So to keep the farce going, the tubes find ways of making new tubes, which also put things in at one end and let them out at the other.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life feels like a repetitive, exhausting cycle where we constantly create new pressures that keep us trapped in endless activity. **In simple terms:** Life can feel like a tiring loop of endless tasks. Key Takeaway Recognize and break the cycle. Themes existential stress routine automation meaning Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - workplace burnout - personal productivity - mental health - social media overload - career stagnation Key Concepts philosophy psychology systems theory Questions to Reflect On - What cycles in your life feel most draining? - How can you create space for rest? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex motivations and external constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apprehension](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprehension/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Farce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farce/) [Going Tubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-tubes-1257937/) [Growing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing/) [Including](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/including/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-organisms/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-run/) [Long runs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-runs/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Rat race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rat-race/) [Rats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rats/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Trap Living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trap-living-3673580/) [Traps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traps/) [Tubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tubes/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [“For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a rat-race in a trap: living organisms, including people, are merely tubes which put things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that-existence-is-a-rat-race-in-a/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a rat-race in a trap: living organisms, including people,are merely tubes which put things in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that-existence-is-a-rat-race-in-a-2/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We suffer from a hallucination, from a false and distorted sensation of our own existence as living organisms. Most of us have the sensation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-suffer-from-a-hallucination-from-a-false-and-distorted-sensation/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Time is a social institution and not a physical reality. There is no such thing as time in the natural world - the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/time-is-a-social-institution-and-not-a-physical-reality-there-is-no/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself. Just as the word “water” is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/ego-is-a-social-institution-with-no-physical-reality-the-ego-is-2/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [That's the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/that-s-the-argument-of-flexibility-and-it-goes-something-like-this/) [Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/) > [The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-living-environment-is-the-biosphere-the-thin-layer-around-the/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [I am of course getting angry if biologists try to use the general concept 'chance' in order to explain phenomena which are so typical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-paul/i-am-of-course-getting-angry-if-biologists-try-to-use-the-general/) [Wolfgang Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-paul/) > [Living organisms are distinguished by their specified complexity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-orgel/living-organisms-are-distinguished-by-their-specified-complexity/) [Leslie Orgel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-orgel/) > [It is certainly true in the United States that there is an uneasiness about certain aspects of science, particularly evolution, because it conflicts, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/it-is-certainly-true-in-the-united-states-that-there-is-an-uneasiness/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [All living organisms are but leaves on the same tree of life. The various functions of plants and animals and their specialized organs are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-szent-gyorgyi/all-living-organisms-are-but-leaves-on-the-same-tree-of-life-the/) [Albert Szent-Gyorgyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-szent-gyorgyi/) > [The surface of the earth is not simply a stage on which the thousands of present and past inhabitants played their parts in turn.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-agassiz/the-surface-of-the-earth-is-not-simply-a-stage-on-which-the-thousands/) [Louis Agassiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-agassiz/) > [“A dying organism is often observed to be capable of extraordinary endurance and strength. ... When any living organism is attacked, its whole function…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-dying-organism-is-often-observed-to-be-capable-of-extraordinary/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge. Its goal is to find out how the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/science-is-a-way-of-thinking-much-more-than-it-is-a-body-of-knowledge/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Toshiaki learned that all living organisms were governed by their DNA. He was impressed by perfection of this system.Why did existence have the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hideaki-sena/toshiaki-learned-that-all-living-organisms-were-governed-by-their-dna/) [Hideaki Sena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hideaki-sena/) ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. 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I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Apprehension quotes > [Marriages are always moving from one season to another. Sometimes we find ourselves in winter--discouraged, detached, and dissatisfied; other times we experience springtime, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/marriages-are-always-moving-from-one-season-to-another-sometimes-we/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [At length weariness succeeds to labor, and the mind lies at ease in the contemplation of her own attainments without any desire of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-and-the-mind-lies-at-ease-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The apprehension whether people will like it or not also doesn't bother me much. I've always done my work with a gut feeling that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiku-sharda/the-apprehension-whether-people-will-like-it-or-not-also-doesn-t/) [Kiku Sharda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiku-sharda/) > [LIFE, n. A spiritual pickle preserving the body from decay. We live in daily apprehension of its loss; yet when lost it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/life-n-a-spiritual-pickle-preserving-the-body-from-decay-we-live-in/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“Man may feel like a feeble and powerless pawn, at some moment in his life. This apprehension can come out of the blue, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/man-may-feel-like-a-feeble-and-powerless-pawn-at-some-moment-in-his/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [We stand for organized terror - this should be frankly admitted. Terror is an absolute necessity during times of revolution. Our aim is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dzerzhinsky/we-stand-for-organized-terror-this-should-be-frankly-admitted-terror/) [Felix Dzerzhinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dzerzhinsky/) > [The regulation of commerce, it is true, is a new power; but that seems to be an addition which few oppose and from which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-regulation-of-commerce-it-is-true-is-a-new-power-but-that-seems/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [As a father and grandfather, I have witnessed firsthand the joy of new life entering the world. I know the pain and apprehension that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/as-a-father-and-grandfather-i-have-witnessed-firsthand-the-joy-of-new/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers: we are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/lord-enlighten-thou-our-enemies-sharpen-their-wits-give-acuteness-to/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The sense of death is most in apprehension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-sense-of-death-is-most-in-apprehension/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Since philosophy is the exploration of the rational, it is for that very reason the apprehension of the present and the actual, not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/since-philosophy-is-the-exploration-of-the-rational-it-is-for-that/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Injustice is not evil in itself, but only in the fear and apprehension that one will not escape those who have been set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/injustice-is-not-evil-in-itself-but-only-in-the-fear-and-apprehension/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [The fact about himself that the liar hides is that he is attempting to lead us away from a correct apprehension of reality; we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-frankfurt/the-fact-about-himself-that-the-liar-hides-is-that-he-is-attempting/) [Harry Frankfurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-frankfurt/) > [“A person can hurry through or sleep walk through life, but whenever they stop to catch their breath or awaken from a long nap,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-person-can-hurry-through-or-sleep-walk-through-life-but-whenever/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) [Browse all 258 Apprehension quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprehension/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a rat-race in a trap: living organisms, including people, are merely tubes which put things in at one end and let them out at the other, which which both keeps them doing it and in the long run wears them out. 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