Apes Quote by Alija Izetbegović
““As animals have no idea of the holy or the devil, they have no idea of the beautiful. The opinion held by some scientists that apes could paint, based on the 'paintings' apes had done, proved to be quite wrong. It has been confirmed that apes only imitate man. So- called 'ape art' surely does not exist. On the contrary, the cave men from Cromagnon onward knew how to paint and care. Their drawings have been found in caves of the Sahara, in Spain at Altamira, in Franc at Lascaux, and recently in Poland at Mashicka. Many of these pictures are thought to be more than 30,000 years old. Some time ago, a group of Soviet archeologists discovered a set of musical instruments, made 20,000 years ago, near the town of Chernigov in the Ukraine.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Remarks on Human Culture and Prehistoric Art, 1990s
Humans uniquely create and appreciate beauty, unlike animals who lack concepts of holy or devil; prehistoric cave art demonstrates early human artistic expression, whereas apes only imitate human actions.
In simple terms: Humans make art, animals don’t.
Key Takeaway
Recognize the distinct human capacity for symbolic creation.
Themes
art
humanity
history
creativity
Mood
reflective
inquisitive
Type
historical
educational
When to use this quote
- museum curation
- education
- archaeology research
- public exhibitions
Key Concepts
symbolism
cognitive evolution
anthropology
Questions to Reflect On
- How does culture shape our perception of beauty?
- What does prehistoric art reveal about early human cognition?
A Different Perspective
Artistic ability may be influenced by cultural context, not just innate talent.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
