--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have seen apes only at the fair, they…" description: "\"“I have seen apes only at the fair, they must perform tricks, are chained up, a bitter fate, no human has one so hard”\" — Alfred Döblin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/alfred-doblin-26221_apes_i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-m_989671.png" --- # I have seen apes only at the fair, they must perform… ![“I have seen apes only at the fair, they must perform tricks, are chained up, a bitter fate, no human has one so hard” quote by Alfred Döblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/alfred-doblin-26221_apes_i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-m_989671.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/alfred-doblin-26221_apes_i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-m_989671.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/alfred-doblin-26221_apes_i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-m_989671.png) > ““I have seen apes only at the fair, they must perform tricks, are chained up, a bitter fate, no human has one so hard”” [Alfred Döblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He observes apes in captivity, likening their plight to human suffering and unfairness. **In simple terms:** He compares captive apes to human hardship. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge unjust constraints. Themes animal rights human suffering justice Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical social When to use this quote - zoo visits - social critique - activism Key Concepts ethical reflection metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What parallels exist between animal captivity and human oppression? - How can empathy translate into action? A Different Perspective Metaphor may oversimplify complex issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Apes Fair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes-fair-2017587/) [Bitter Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitter-fate-856802/) [Chained Bitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chained-bitter-2017589/) [Seen Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seen-apes-2017588/) ## Related quotes > [“In the beginning his dream and his happiness, in the end it was his bitter fate...But in the midst of the freedom he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/in-the-beginning-his-dream-and-his-happiness-in-the-end-it-was-his/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) [J. Lee Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-lee-thompson/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## More by Alfred Döblin > [The world is made of sugar and dirt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/the-world-is-made-of-sugar-and-dirt/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [In the course of writing one historical book or another, it has happened that I could hardly restrain myself from simply copying entire documents.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/in-the-course-of-writing-one-historical-book-or-another-it-has/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [That's how the Germans are… The aristocrats at the top hard as glass, cold as ice, servants of the King, the working masses willing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/that-s-how-the-germans-are-the-aristocrats-at-the-top-hard-as-glass/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [The German Reich is a Republic, and whoever doesn't believe it gets one in the neck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/the-german-reich-is-a-republic-and-whoever-doesn-t-believe-it-gets/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [I read like the flame reads the wood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/i-read-like-the-flame-reads-the-wood/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [No country is so peaceful as the one that leads into death. Life arches above one's head like a bridgespan, and below it flows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/no-country-is-so-peaceful-as-the-one-that-leads-into-death-life/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [Revolution? Unscrew the flag-staff, wrap the bunting in the oil covers, and put the thing in the clothes-chest. Let the old lady bring you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/revolution-unscrew-the-flag-staff-wrap-the-bunting-in-the-oil-covers/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [The subject of the novel is reality liberated from soul. The reader in complete independence presented with a structured process:let him evaluate it, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/the-subject-of-the-novel-is-reality-liberated-from-soul-the-reader-in/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [And if you ask again whether there is any justice in the world, you'll have to be satisfied with the reply: Not for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/and-if-you-ask-again-whether-there-is-any-justice-in-the-world-you-ll/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [One encounters very capable fathers abashed by their piano-playing daughters. Three measures of Schumann make them red with embarrassment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/one-encounters-very-capable-fathers-abashed-by-their-piano-playing/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [Much unhappiness comes from walking alone. When there are several, it's somewhat different. I must get into the habit of listening to others, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/much-unhappiness-comes-from-walking-alone-when-there-are-several-it-s/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [“Caviar is formed from gray-green boulders that have been eroded by the weather and exposed to frequent rainstorms. This occurs in the mountains. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/caviar-is-formed-from-gray-green-boulders-that-have-been-eroded-by/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [The cities are the principal home and seat of the human group. They are the coral colony for Man, the collective being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/the-cities-are-the-principal-home-and-seat-of-the-human-group-they/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [I used to think great teachers inspire you. Now I think I had it wrong. Good teachers inspire you; great teachers show you how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/i-used-to-think-great-teachers-inspire-you-now-i-think-i-had-it-wrong/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) > [Next-door a baker's apprentice with his wife, an employee in a printing-shop, she has inflammation of the ovaries. Wonder what those two get out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/next-door-a-baker-s-apprentice-with-his-wife-an-employee-in-a/) [Alfred Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) [Explore all 21 Alfred Döblin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/) ## More Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) [J. Lee Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-lee-thompson/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have seen apes only at the fair, they must perform tricks, are chained up, a bitter fate, no human has one so hard”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alfred Döblin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-must-perform-tricks-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-must-perform-tricks-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/alfred-doblin-26221_apes_i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-m_989671.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/alfred-doblin-26221_apes_i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-m_989671.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/alfred-doblin-26221_apes_i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-m_989671.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have seen apes only at the fair, they must perform tricks, are chained up, a bitter fate, no human has one…” — Alfred Döblin", "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": "Alfred Döblin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-doblin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I have seen apes only at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-must-perform-tricks-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-doblin/i-have-seen-apes-only-at-the-fair-they-must-perform-tricks-are/#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 } } ] } ```