--- 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 a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/alan-wilson-watts-4665_life_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_412208.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 both keeps them doing it and in the long run wears them out. So to keep the farce going, the tubes…” quote by Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/alan-wilson-watts-4665_life_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_412208.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/alan-wilson-watts-4665_life_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_412208.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/alan-wilson-watts-4665_life_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_412208.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 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. At the input end they even develop ganglia of nerves called brains, with eyes and ears, so that they can more easily scrounge around for things to swallow.”” [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human life is likened to a tube that constantly processes inputs and outputs, creating endless cycles that wear us down. **In simple terms:** Life is a repetitive processing cycle. Key Takeaway Break the cycle for fulfillment. Themes existence routine weariness Mood cynical analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - career burnout - consumerism - habit loops Key Concepts systems theory automation consciousness Questions to Reflect On - What tube are you stuck in? - How can you redesign your process? A Different Perspective May ignore agency in change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Going Tubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-tubes-1257937/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-run/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) [Trap Living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trap-living-3673580/) [Tubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tubes/) [Tubes Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tubes-things-3673579/) ## 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-watts/for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that-existence-is-a-rat-race-in-a-3/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-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/) > [A tragedy's first act is crowded with supporting players: witnesses crimping their faces, policemen scribbling in pads and making radio calls, EMS guys unfolding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darin-strauss/a-tragedy-s-first-act-is-crowded-with-supporting-players-witnesses/) [Darin Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darin-strauss/) > [There seems to be a common strain of miserliness in the American people when it comes to throwing away toothpaste tubes which havea little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-seems-to-be-a-common-strain-of-miserliness-in-the-american/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [I also became interested in chemistry and gradually accumulated enough test tubes and other glassware to do chemical experiments, using small quantities of chemicals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-brenner/i-also-became-interested-in-chemistry-and-gradually-accumulated/) [Sydney Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-brenner/) > [In the increasingly mechanized, automated, cybernated environment of the modern world a cold, bodiless world of wheels, smooth plastic surfaces, tubes, pushbuttons, transistors, computers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eldridge-cleaver/in-the-increasingly-mechanized-automated-cybernated-environment-of/) [Eldridge Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eldridge-cleaver/) > [I go into town every day on the tube. I've got an Oyster card.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-flemyng/i-go-into-town-every-day-on-the-tube-i-ve-got-an-oyster-card/) [Jason Flemyng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-flemyng/) > [ \[Math is\] not at all like science. There's no experiment I can do with test tubes and equipment and whatnot that will tell me… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-lockhart/math-is-not-at-all-like-science-there-s-no-experiment-i-can-do-with/) [Paul Lockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-lockhart/) > [A comic, all they have to do is, if you do something funny in a comedy club and you put it up on you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-rogan/a-comic-all-they-have-to-do-is-if-you-do-something-funny-in-a-comedy/) [Joe Rogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-rogan/) > [We know have the power of God in many ways: the atomic bomb, the ability to create life in a test tube, cloning, artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/we-know-have-the-power-of-god-in-many-ways-the-atomic-bomb-the/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Communists all seem to wear small caps, a look I consider better suited to tubes of toothpaste than to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/communists-all-seem-to-wear-small-caps-a-look-i-consider-better/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [So someday in the near future hopefully rather than having a foot or a leg amputated we'll just give you an injection of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lanza/so-someday-in-the-near-future-hopefully-rather-than-having-a-foot-or/) [Robert Lanza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lanza/) > [The Behaviorist cannot find consciousness in the test-tube of his science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-b-watson/the-behaviorist-cannot-find-consciousness-in-the-test-tube-of-his/) [John B. Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-watson/) > [I know how to set an irrigation tube, and I helped with the harvest. I learned the law of the harvest without even knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-l-dew/i-know-how-to-set-an-irrigation-tube-and-i-helped-with-the-harvest-i/) [Sheri L. Dew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-l-dew/) > [I've gradually fooled myself into becoming a real painter... I really just like to sit in my air-conditioned Rome painting studio surrounded by Medieval…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kostabi/i-ve-gradually-fooled-myself-into-becoming-a-real-painter-i-really/) [Mark Kostabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kostabi/) ## More by Alan Wilson Watts > [“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/advice-i-don-t-have-advice-stop-aspiring-and-start-writing-if-you-re/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“The common mistake of the religious celibate has been to suppose that the highest spiritual life absolutely demands the renunciation of sexuality, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/the-common-mistake-of-the-religious-celibate-has-been-to-suppose-that/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“Real freedom cannot exist alongside false freedom, but the abandonment of false freedom looks as if it would leave you as good as dead.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/real-freedom-cannot-exist-alongside-false-freedom-but-the-abandonment/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“But it is not that you are something which is just watching what happens. “What happens” is just using your organism to watch itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/but-it-is-not-that-you-are-something-which-is-just-watching-what/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“Read Theodore Schwenk’s marvelous book Sensitive Chaos (London, Rudolph Steiner Press, 1965),”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/read-theodore-schwenk-s-marvelous-book-sensitive-chaos-london-rudolph/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“Idolatry is not the use of images, but confusing them with what they represent, and in this respect mental images and lofty abstractions can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/idolatry-is-not-the-use-of-images-but-confusing-them-with-what-they/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“The more we accustom ourselves to understanding the present in terms of memory, the unknown by the known, the living by the dead, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/the-more-we-accustom-ourselves-to-understanding-the-present-in-terms/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“We do not dance to reach a certain point on the floor, but simply to dance. Energy itself, as William Blake said, is eternal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/we-do-not-dance-to-reach-a-certain-point-on-the-floor-but-simply-to/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“Thought and science are therefore raising problems which their terms of study can never answer, many of which are doubtless problems only for thought.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/thought-and-science-are-therefore-raising-problems-which-their-terms/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“But this is at the same time a vivid way of saying that your soul, or rather your essential Self, is the whole cosmos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/but-this-is-at-the-same-time-a-vivid-way-of-saying-that-your-soul-or/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“When you no longer make the distinction between the universe and how you are acting upon it, you are really on your own and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/when-you-no-longer-make-the-distinction-between-the-universe-and-how/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“My death will be the disappearance of a particular pattern in the water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/my-death-will-be-the-disappearance-of-a-particular-pattern-in-the/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“I have always thought that all philosophical debates are ultimately between the partisans of structure and the partisans of "goo.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/i-have-always-thought-that-all-philosophical-debates-are-ultimately/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/we-are-living-in-a-culture-entirely-hypnotized-by-the-illusion-of/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [“Where there is to be creative action, it is quite beside the point to discuss what we should or should not do in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/where-there-is-to-be-creative-action-it-is-quite-beside-the-point-to/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) [Explore all 106 Alan Wilson Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```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 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. At the input end they even develop ganglia of nerves called brains, with eyes and ears, so that they can more easily scrounge around for things to swallow.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Wilson Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that-existence-is-a-rat-race-in-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that-existence-is-a-rat-race-in-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/alan-wilson-watts-4665_life_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_412208.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/alan-wilson-watts-4665_life_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_412208.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/938/alan-wilson-watts-4665_life_for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that_412208.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For there is a growing apprehension that existence is a rat-race in a trap: living organisms, including…” — Alan Wilson Watts", "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": "Alan Wilson Watts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“For there is a growing apprehension...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that-existence-is-a-rat-race-in-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/for-there-is-a-growing-apprehension-that-existence-is-a-rat-race-in-a/#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 } } ] } ```