--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Elephant, beyond the fact that their size…" description: "\"“Elephant, beyond the fact that their size and conformation are aesthetically more suited to the treading of this earth than our angular informity, hav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/beryl-markham-6709_elephant_elephant-beyond-the-fact-that-their-size_1664996.jpg" --- # Elephant, beyond the fact that their size and conformation… ![“Elephant, beyond the fact that their size and conformation are aesthetically more suited to the treading of this earth than our angular informity, have an average intelligence comparable to our own. Of course they are less agile and physically less adaptable than ourselves -- nature having…” quote by Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/beryl-markham-6709_elephant_elephant-beyond-the-fact-that-their-size_1664996.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/beryl-markham-6709_elephant_elephant-beyond-the-fact-that-their-size_1664996.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/beryl-markham-6709_elephant_elephant-beyond-the-fact-that-their-size_1664996.jpg) > ““Elephant, beyond the fact that their size and conformation are aesthetically more suited to the treading of this earth than our angular informity, have an average intelligence comparable to our own. Of course they are less agile and physically less adaptable than ourselves -- nature having developed their bodies in one direction and their brains in another, while human beings, on the other hand, drew from Mr. Darwin's lottery of evolution both the winning ticket and the stub to match it. This, I suppose, is why we are so wonderful and can make movies and electric razors and wireless sets -- and guns with which to shoot the elephant, the hare, clay pigeons, and each other.”” [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Elephants possess intelligence comparable to humans but differ physically; humans, having diverse evolutionary traits, create complex technologies and art, reflecting both advantage and responsibility. **In simple terms:** Elephants are smart; humans use that to create many things. Key Takeaway Recognize animal intelligence and our unique creative power. Themes nature intelligence technology responsibility Mood reflective concerned Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - wildlife conservation - technology development - ethical debates - education Key Concepts evolutionary biology anthropocentrism Questions to Reflect On - How should we balance innovation with respect for nature? - What responsibilities arise from our unique abilities? A Different Perspective Human technological progress can harm the very creatures we admire. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elephant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephant/) [Elephants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephants/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Guns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guns/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Elephants\] are less agile and physically less adaptable than ourselves - Nature having developed their bodies in one direction and their brains in another,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/elephants-are-less-agile-and-physically-less-adaptable-than-ourselves/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [It is absurd for a man to kill an elephant. It is not brutal, it is not heroic, and certainly it is not easy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/it-is-absurd-for-a-man-to-kill-an-elephant-it-is-not-brutal-it-is-not/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [The knife flaying the elephant does not have to be large, only sharp!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-norton/the-knife-flaying-the-elephant-does-not-have-to-be-large-only-sharp/) [Andre Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-norton/) > [The U.N. bureaucracy has grown to elephantine proportions. Now that the Cold War is over, we are asking that elephant to do gymnastics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-albright/the-u-n-bureaucracy-has-grown-to-elephantine-proportions-now-that-the/) [Madeleine Albright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-albright/) > [Making films is about having absolute and foolish confidence; the challenge for all of us is to have the heart of a poet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-nair/making-films-is-about-having-absolute-and-foolish-confidence-the/) [Mira Nair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-nair/) > [When you hear the elephant music you're hearing what they mean to make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-soldier/when-you-hear-the-elephant-music-you-re-hearing-what-they-mean-to-make/) Dave Soldier > [I feel as if I go to Africa, I may never come back. I'm just going to live with the animals and adopt an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianna-agron/i-feel-as-if-i-go-to-africa-i-may-never-come-back-i-m-just-going-to/) [Dianna Agron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianna-agron/) > [Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees. Very slowly it walked to the mutilated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/now-he-saw-another-elephant-emerge-from-the-place-where-it-had-stood/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [when there's an elephant in the room, you can't pretend it isn't there and just discuss the ants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-wittlinger/when-there-s-an-elephant-in-the-room-you-can-t-pretend-it-isn-t-there/) [Ellen Wittlinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-wittlinger/) > [The elephant is never won by anger; nor must that man who would reclaim a lion take him by the teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/the-elephant-is-never-won-by-anger-nor-must-that-man-who-would/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [No Child Left Behind ... is a giraffe with an elephant's body. ... You can't take the vision of Ted Kennedy and merge it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rauschenberger/no-child-left-behind-is-a-giraffe-with-an-elephant-s-body-you-can-t/) Steve Rauschenberger > [And that is how Goodwin problems were always fixed. Fix them on the surface but don't go to the root, always ignoring the elephant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/and-that-is-how-goodwin-problems-were-always-fixed-fix-them-on-the/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/unlike-the-primate-hand-the-elephant-s-grasping-organ-is-also-its/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [If you've never seen an elephant ski, then you've never been on acid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-izzard/if-you-ve-never-seen-an-elephant-ski-then-you-ve-never-been-on-acid/) [Eddie Izzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-izzard/) > [I watched a film called 'Elephant' recently. Its not stylish in the sense of expensive suits and Italian cars, but the styling on every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinie-tempah/i-watched-a-film-called-elephant-recently-its-not-stylish-in-the/) [Tinie Tempah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinie-tempah/) ## More by Beryl Markham > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“(Quoting her friend Tom Black on an amateur hunter's injury:) "Lion, rifles -- and stupidity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/quoting-her-friend-tom-black-on-an-amateur-hunter-s-injury-lion/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“The only disadvantage in surviving a dangerous experience lies in the fact that your story of it tends to be anticlimactic. You can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/the-only-disadvantage-in-surviving-a-dangerous-experience-lies-in-the/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“All this, and discontent too! Otherwise, why am I sitting here dreaming of England? Why am I gazing at this campfire like a lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/all-this-and-discontent-too-otherwise-why-am-i-sitting-here-dreaming/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [We swung over the hills and over the town and back again, and I saw how a man can be master of a craft,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/we-swung-over-the-hills-and-over-the-town-and-back-again-and-i-saw/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [there are many Africas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-many-africas/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Talk lives in a man’s head, but sometimes it is very lonely because in the heads of many men there is nothing to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/talk-lives-in-a-man-s-head-but-sometimes-it-is-very-lonely-because-in/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [There is a certain silence that can emanate from a lifeless object as from a chair lately used, or from a piano with old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-is-a-certain-silence-that-can-emanate-from-a-lifeless-object-as/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [ \[The lion\] began to contemplate me with a kind of quiet premeditation, like that of a slow-witted man fondling an unaccustomed thought. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/the-lion-began-to-contemplate-me-with-a-kind-of-quiet-premeditation/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“From the time I arrived in British East Africa at the indifferent age of four and went through the barefoot stage of early youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/from-the-time-i-arrived-in-british-east-africa-at-the-indifferent-age/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [But, for a little while, this is the place for us -- a good place too--a place of good omen, a place of beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/but-for-a-little-while-this-is-the-place-for-us-a-good-place-too-a/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [There are all kinds of silences and each of them means a different thing. There is the silence that comes with morning in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-all-kinds-of-silences-and-each-of-them-means-a-different/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [“There are as many Africas as there are books about Africa -- and as many books about it as you could read in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-are-as-many-africas-as-there-are-books-about-africa-and-as-many/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [There's an old adage," he said, "translated from the ancient Coptic, that contains all the wisdom of the ages -- "Life is life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/there-s-an-old-adage-he-said-translated-from-the-ancient-coptic-that/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [The way to find a needle in a haystack is to sit down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/the-way-to-find-a-needle-in-a-haystack-is-to-sit-down/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) [Explore all 98 Beryl Markham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) ## More Elephant quotes > [“As I remarked before, the Asiatic elephant is smaller than the African, which is frequently twelve feet high, and its tusks are in proportion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/as-i-remarked-before-the-asiatic-elephant-is-smaller-than-the-african/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [I watched a film called 'Elephant' recently. Its not stylish in the sense of expensive suits and Italian cars, but the styling on every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinie-tempah/i-watched-a-film-called-elephant-recently-its-not-stylish-in-the/) [Tinie Tempah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinie-tempah/) > [I think success is a relative term. If you're a caveman, success is capturing an elephant. Success is achieving better than the norm. Success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-taffer/i-think-success-is-a-relative-term-if-you-re-a-caveman-success-is/) [Jon Taffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-taffer/) > [“How much does an elephant weigh? ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-patton/how-much-does-an-elephant-weigh/) Rhonda Patton > [“Money, you could say, was the elephant in The Room .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-sestero/money-you-could-say-was-the-elephant-in-the-room/) [Greg Sestero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-sestero/) > [“The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-nakoneczny-high-school-track-coach/the-best-way-to-eat-an-elephant-is-one-bite-at-a-time/) Wayne Nakoneczny high school track coach > [I've been told I looked like I swallowed an elephant or a pig, whichever was more fitting that day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katelyn-ohashi/i-ve-been-told-i-looked-like-i-swallowed-an-elephant-or-a-pig/) [Katelyn Ohashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katelyn-ohashi/) > [My first experience with film was through a still camera. I would sit, very much against my will, with my father in the game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavid-hood/my-first-experience-with-film-was-through-a-still-camera-i-would-sit/) [Gavid Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavid-hood/) > [If you've never seen an elephant ski, then you've never been on acid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-izzard/if-you-ve-never-seen-an-elephant-ski-then-you-ve-never-been-on-acid/) [Eddie Izzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-izzard/) > [Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/unlike-the-primate-hand-the-elephant-s-grasping-organ-is-also-its/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [And that is how Goodwin problems were always fixed. Fix them on the surface but don't go to the root, always ignoring the elephant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/and-that-is-how-goodwin-problems-were-always-fixed-fix-them-on-the/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [I like my stationery to be funnier, like, 'Here's my note, and it's an elephant with a lady smoking a cigarette on top.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-spade/i-like-my-stationery-to-be-funnier-like-here-s-my-note-and-it-s-an/) [Kate Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-spade/) > [“It was the size of an ox, of a bull elephant, of a lifetime. It stared at them, and it paused for a hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-was-the-size-of-an-ox-of-a-bull-elephant-of-a-lifetime-it-stared/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [While I had often said that I wanted to die in bed, what I really meant was that in my old age I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/while-i-had-often-said-that-i-wanted-to-die-in-bed-what-i-really/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [No Child Left Behind ... is a giraffe with an elephant's body. ... You can't take the vision of Ted Kennedy and merge it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rauschenberger/no-child-left-behind-is-a-giraffe-with-an-elephant-s-body-you-can-t/) Steve Rauschenberger [Browse all 316 Elephant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephant/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Elephant, beyond the fact that their size and conformation are aesthetically more suited to the treading of this earth than our angular informity, have an average intelligence comparable to our own. Of course they are less agile and physically less adaptable than ourselves -- nature having developed their bodies in one direction and their brains in another, while human beings, on the other hand, drew from Mr. Darwin's lottery of evolution both the winning ticket and the stub to match it. 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