--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was difficult to anticipate—in these…" description: "\"“It was difficult to anticipate—in these monsters with enormous, fantastic beaks which they opened wide immediately after birth, hissing greedily to sh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/bruno-schulz-10193_birds_it-was-difficult-to-anticipate-in-these_1845647.png" --- # It was difficult to anticipate—in these monsters with… ![“It was difficult to anticipate—in these monsters with enormous, fantastic beaks which they opened wide immediately after birth, hissing greedily to show the backs of their throats, in these lizards with frail, naked bodies of hunchbacks—the future peacocks, pheasants, grouse or condors. Placed in…” quote by Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/bruno-schulz-10193_birds_it-was-difficult-to-anticipate-in-these_1845647.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/bruno-schulz-10193_birds_it-was-difficult-to-anticipate-in-these_1845647.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/bruno-schulz-10193_birds_it-was-difficult-to-anticipate-in-these_1845647.png) > ““It was difficult to anticipate—in these monsters with enormous, fantastic beaks which they opened wide immediately after birth, hissing greedily to show the backs of their throats, in these lizards with frail, naked bodies of hunchbacks—the future peacocks, pheasants, grouse or condors. Placed in cotton wool, in baskets, this dragon brood lifted blind, walleyed heads on thin necks, croaking voicelessly from their dumb throats.”” [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage portrays newborn creatures with grotesque features, emphasizing their vulnerability and strange beauty as they emerge into a harsh world. **In simple terms:** Strange newborns are fragile yet striking. Key Takeaway Recognize beauty in the odd and vulnerable. Themes vulnerability beauty birth creatures oddity Mood melancholic curious Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - Literary analysis - artistic inspiration - philosophical reflection Key Concepts Surrealism existentialism aesthetic perception Questions to Reflect On - What does the grotesque reveal about life? - How do we find beauty in the unsettling? A Different Perspective The vivid description may obscure deeper meaning behind the grotesque. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beaks Opened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beaks-opened-2385885/) [Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Dragon Brood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragon-brood-2385886/) [Hunchbacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunchbacks-384380/) [Lizards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lizards/) [Throats Lizards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/throats-lizards-2385884/) ## Related quotes > [In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Hunchbacks danced at my wedding for luck. It's a thing you don't see nowadays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/hunchbacks-danced-at-my-wedding-for-luck-it-s-a-thing-you-don-t-see/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Under the ground seep the toxins of the population that lives above. If you have to, you will eat roots and earthworms. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/under-the-ground-seep-the-toxins-of-the-population-that-lives-above/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [I was a big fan of Super Troopers, so working with the Broken Lizard guys was so much fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-a-big-fan-of-super-troopers-so-working-with-the-broken-lizard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/eye-of-newt-and-toe-of-frog-wool-of-bat-and-tongue-of-dog-adder-s/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The sort of man who likes to spend his time watching a cage of monkeys chase one another, or a lion gnaw its tail,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-sort-of-man-who-likes-to-spend-his-time-watching-a-cage-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [I was associated with the Artist Placement Group in the early 1970s and David Hall, the video artist, was an Artist Placement Group artist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-toop/i-was-associated-with-the-artist-placement-group-in-the-early-1970s/) [David Toop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-toop/) > [Tell your lizard (brain) to shut up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/tell-your-lizard-brain-to-shut-up/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I am the Lizard King, I can do anything!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/i-am-the-lizard-king-i-can-do-anything/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [It makes my skin crawl to think about the violent ways snakes, lizards, alligators and other exotic creatures are raised and killed for boots,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-brook/it-makes-my-skin-crawl-to-think-about-the-violent-ways-snakes-lizards/) [Kelly Brook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-brook/) > [The Lounge Lizards were relating with a tradition and it was like I was playing within a musical context. The guitar playing stood out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arto-lindsay/the-lounge-lizards-were-relating-with-a-tradition-and-it-was-like-i/) [Arto Lindsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arto-lindsay/) > [Texas is a hell hole, man. Dirt, cactus, lizards, dirt, cactus, the Bush family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/texas-is-a-hell-hole-man-dirt-cactus-lizards-dirt-cactus-the-bush/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [“Even lizard + baby can be director.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-robert/even-lizard-baby-can-be-director/) [Robert Robert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-robert/) > [Nothing, not even the best and noblest, can go on as it now is. Nothing, not even what is lowest and most bestial, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-not-even-the-best-and-noblest-can-go-on-as-it-now-is-nothing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you watch lizards and lions copulating, then you will see that in 200 million years the male has not had a single new idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/if-you-watch-lizards-and-lions-copulating-then-you-will-see-that-in/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) ## More by Bruno Schulz > [“A művészi tevékenység nem más, mint kész tételek dedukciója. A művészek később már semmi újat nem fedeznek fel, csak a kezdetben gondjaikra bízott titkot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/a-m-v-szi-tev-kenys-g-nem-m-s-mint-k-sz-t-telek-dedukci-ja-a-m-v-szek/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [“After tidying up, Adela would plunge the rooms into semidarkness by drawing down the linen blinds. All colors immediately fell an octave lower, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/after-tidying-up-adela-would-plunge-the-rooms-into-semidarkness-by/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [Under the imaginary table that separates me from my readers, don’t we secretly clasp each other’s hands?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/under-the-imaginary-table-that-separates-me-from-my-readers-don-t-we/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [“On those luminous mornings Adela returned from the market, like Pomona emerging from the flames of day, spilling from her basket the coloful beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/on-those-luminous-mornings-adela-returned-from-the-market-like-pomona/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [My ideal goal is to "mature" into childhood. That would be genuine maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/my-ideal-goal-is-to-mature-into-childhood-that-would-be-genuine/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [Theses officers were good friends, so it must have been a terrible argument, because the one who played chess with my father was so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/theses-officers-were-good-friends-so-it-must-have-been-a-terrible/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [As we manipulate everyday words, we forget that they are fragments of ancient and eternal stories, that we are building our houses with broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/as-we-manipulate-everyday-words-we-forget-that-they-are-fragments-of/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [“His unlived life worried him, tortured him, turning round and round inside him like an animal in a cage. In Dodo's body, the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/his-unlived-life-worried-him-tortured-him-turning-round-and-round/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [“there is no dead matter," he taught us, "lifelessness is only a disguise behind which hide unknown forms of life. The range of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/there-is-no-dead-matter-he-taught-us-lifelessness-is-only-a-disguise/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [This enraged the other Nazi so much that the next morning he came to our house and he shot my father.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/this-enraged-the-other-nazi-so-much-that-the-next-morning-he-came-to/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [“After a brief moment of splendour, the whole enterprise too a sad turn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/after-a-brief-moment-of-splendour-the-whole-enterprise-too-a-sad-turn/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [One thing must be avoided at all costs: narrow-mindedness, pedantry, dull pettiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/one-thing-must-be-avoided-at-all-costs-narrow-mindedness-pedantry/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [“I harbored in my mind a sort of utopia about ‘an age of genius’ that supposedly existed in my life once upon a time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/i-harbored-in-my-mind-a-sort-of-utopia-about-an-age-of-genius-that/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [How can one not succumb and allow one's courage to fail when everything is shut tight, when all meaningful things are walled up, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/how-can-one-not-succumb-and-allow-one-s-courage-to-fail-when/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [“I did not have enough courage to go round to the back of the villa. I should certainly have been noticed by someone. Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/i-did-not-have-enough-courage-to-go-round-to-the-back-of-the-villa-i/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) [Explore all 56 Bruno Schulz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) ## More Birds quotes > [“In East Sussex, let us say, an old farm sleeps in sun-dapple, its oast-house with its cowls echoing the distant steeple of SS Andrew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-m-w-wemyss/in-east-sussex-let-us-say-an-old-farm-sleeps-in-sun-dapple-its-oast/) [G.M.W. Wemyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-m-w-wemyss/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [I don't like small birds. They hop around so merrily outside my window, looking so innocent. but I know that secretly, they're watching my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-like-small-birds-they-hop-around-so-merrily-outside-my-window/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Birds are an ecological litmus paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-tory-peterson/birds-are-an-ecological-litmus-paper/) [Roger Tory Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-tory-peterson/) > [“Birds fly with their wings, people with their happiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/birds-fly-with-their-wings-people-with-their-happiness/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [You would not think that birds who have no brain at all could become so friendly. I swear some of them are more intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-aston/you-would-not-think-that-birds-who-have-no-brain-at-all-could-become/) [Elizabeth Aston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-aston/) > [“If you see birds flying high in the sky, it means clear weather. However, if you see a lot of birds roosting on power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-mckay/if-you-see-birds-flying-high-in-the-sky-it-means-clear-weather/) [Brett McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-mckay/) > [I'm terrified of heights, but I think there's something really beautiful about birds and soaring, having a bird's-eye view of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-booth/i-m-terrified-of-heights-but-i-think-there-s-something-really/) [Lindy Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-booth/) > [“It is as simple as that. Birds fly because they have wings and so when you can’t grow the wings, you can’t be called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/it-is-as-simple-as-that-birds-fly-because-they-have-wings-and-so-when/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“The day we decide to drop the flimsy makeshift scenarios in our cluttered mind and eschew the ‘alleluias’ of self-importance, life can become genuine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/the-day-we-decide-to-drop-the-flimsy-makeshift-scenarios-in-our/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“I like the idea of songs sung by those without big voices. You know, small birdsongs that rise above the noise of the city.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyo-maclear/i-like-the-idea-of-songs-sung-by-those-without-big-voices-you-know/) [Kyo Maclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyo-maclear/) > [At one point, I had close to 100 birds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akira-toriyama/at-one-point-i-had-close-to-100-birds/) [Akira Toriyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akira-toriyama/) > [How can you expect the birds to sing when their groves are cut down?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/how-can-you-expect-the-birds-to-sing-when-their-groves-are-cut-down/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“If birds can fend for themselves, it means there’s hope for our tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdulazeez-henry-musa/if-birds-can-fend-for-themselves-it-means-there-s-hope-for-our/) [Abdulazeez Henry Musa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdulazeez-henry-musa/) > [Birds Fly in the Sky, because they don't know how to Cry! They know just one thing, to Sing!-RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/birds-fly-in-the-sky-because-they-don-t-know-how-to-cry-they-know/) [RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rvm/) [Browse all 653 Birds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was difficult to anticipate—in these monsters with enormous, fantastic beaks which they opened wide immediately after birth, hissing greedily to show the backs of their throats, in these lizards with frail, naked bodies of hunchbacks—the future peacocks, pheasants, grouse or condors. 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