--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human nature presents human minds with a…" description: "\"“Human nature presents human minds with a puzzle which they have not yet solved and may never succeed in solving, for all that we can tell. The dichoto..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/arnold-joseph-toynbee-92691_human-nature_human-nature-presents-human-minds-with-a_1043711.jpg" --- # Human nature presents human minds with a puzzle which they… ![“Human nature presents human minds with a puzzle which they have not yet solved and may never succeed in solving, for all that we can tell. The dichotomy of a human being into 'soul' and 'body' is not a datum of experience. No one has ever been, or ever met, a living human soul without a body…” quote by Arnold Joseph Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/arnold-joseph-toynbee-92691_human-nature_human-nature-presents-human-minds-with-a_1043711.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/arnold-joseph-toynbee-92691_human-nature_human-nature-presents-human-minds-with-a_1043711.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d24/arnold-joseph-toynbee-92691_human-nature_human-nature-presents-human-minds-with-a_1043711.jpg) > ““Human nature presents human minds with a puzzle which they have not yet solved and may never succeed in solving, for all that we can tell. The dichotomy of a human being into 'soul' and 'body' is not a datum of experience. No one has ever been, or ever met, a living human soul without a body... Someone who accepts—as I myself do, taking it on trust—the present-day scientific account of the Universe may find it impossible to believe that a living creature, once dead, can come to life again; but, if he did entertain this belief, he would be thinking more 'scientifically' if he thought in the Christian terms of a psychosomatic resurrection than if he thought in the shamanistic terms of a disembodied spirit.”” [Arnold Joseph Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-joseph-toynbee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature is a puzzle; the soul‑body split is not experiential. Some find scientific views hard to reconcile with belief in resurrection, preferring psychosomatic or shamanistic explanations. **In simple terms:** The mind‑body divide and resurrection are complex and debated topics. Key Takeaway Explore both scientific and spiritual perspectives on existence. Themes philosophy theology human nature mind‑body resurrection belief Mood contemplative curious neutral Type Human nature:1 Human soul:1 Life:0 Nature:0 Philosophy:1 Psychology:0 Ressurection:0 Souls:0 Spirituality:0 Soul Body:0 Resurrection Thought:0 Thought Shamanistic:0 Psychosomatic Resurrection:0 When to use this quote - academic study - personal belief formation - ethical discussions - counseling Key Concepts metaphysics psychology religious studies existential inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What evidence would convince you of an afterlife? - How do you integrate science and faith? A Different Perspective Scientific proof of resurrection is lacking; personal belief varies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Human soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-soul/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Psychosomatic Resurrection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychosomatic-resurrection-2454278/) [Ressurection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ressurection-158224/) [Resurrection Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resurrection-thought-2454276/) [Soul Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul-body/) [Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Thought Shamanistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-shamanistic-2454277/) ## Related quotes > [“At first are moving tombs on the surface of the surface of the earth; then we become static tombs in the brims of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/at-first-are-moving-tombs-on-the-surface-of-the-surface-of-the-earth/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Thus, Christ making His human divine and taking it into heaven is the central event of all time. 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Teach him, you are a soul; you have a body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/never-tell-a-child-you-have-a-soul-teach-him-you-are-a-soul-you-have/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“happiness is an exclusive quality of the soul. 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Since You are All-Powerful, destroy my soul rather than my body. I don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-i-say-to-him-lord-make-an-exception-of-me-since-you-are-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is soul in side body all life we live with it but we do not meet with our soul and our soul leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/there-is-soul-in-side-body-all-life-we-live-with-it-but-we-do-not/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“We have to get over this notion, which many of us are taught early, that your soul is in your body. Because if your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-bucko/we-have-to-get-over-this-notion-which-many-of-us-are-taught-early/) [Adam Bucko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-bucko/) ## More by Arnold Joseph Toynbee > [“The art of handling university students is to make oneself appear, and this almost ostentatiously, to be treating them as adults...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-joseph-toynbee/the-art-of-handling-university-students-is-to-make-oneself-appear-and/) [Arnold Joseph Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-joseph-toynbee/) [Explore all 2 Arnold Joseph Toynbee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-joseph-toynbee/) ## More Human nature quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. 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Nevertheless (I offer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-mass-of-men-have-been-forced-to-be-gay-about-the-little-things/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) [Browse all 3,743 Human nature quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Human nature presents human minds with a puzzle which they have not yet solved and may never succeed in solving, for all that we can tell. The dichotomy of a human being into 'soul' and 'body' is not a datum of experience. No one has ever been, or ever met, a living human soul without a body... 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