--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We hunger to understand, so we invent…" description: "\"We hunger to understand, so we invent myths about how we imagine the world is constructed - and they're, of course, based upon what we know, which is o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/carl-sagan-160_animals_we-hunger-to-understand-so-we-invent-myt_1735997.jpg" --- # We hunger to understand, so we invent myths about how we… ![“We hunger to understand, so we invent myths about how we imagine the world is constructed - and they're, of course, based upon what we know, which is ourselves and other animals. So we make up stories about how the world was hatched from a cosmic egg or created after the mating of cosmic deities…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/carl-sagan-160_animals_we-hunger-to-understand-so-we-invent-myt_1735997.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/carl-sagan-160_animals_we-hunger-to-understand-so-we-invent-myt_1735997.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/carl-sagan-160_animals_we-hunger-to-understand-so-we-invent-myt_1735997.jpg) > “We hunger to understand, so we invent myths about how we imagine the world is constructed - and they're, of course, based upon what we know, which is ourselves and other animals. So we make up stories about how the world was hatched from a cosmic egg or created after the mating of cosmic deities or by some fiat of a powerful being.” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans create myths to explain the world, projecting their own experience onto it. **In simple terms:** We tell stories based on what we know about ourselves. Key Takeaway Recognize personal bias in explanations. Themes mythmaking human nature knowledge Mood curious reflective Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - education - science communication - creative writing - personal reflection Key Concepts psychology anthropology cosmology Questions to Reflect On - How do our own experiences shape our explanations? - What limits do personal biases impose on understanding? A Different Perspective Myths can oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Egg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egg/) [Egg Created](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egg-created-1475225/) [Hatched Cosmic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatched-cosmic-1475224/) [Invent Myths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invent-myths-1475223/) [Myths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myths/) [Myths Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myths-imagine-1475222/) [Powerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerful/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Men do not invent Myths. They only invent fables, and tell lies. True Myths create themselves, and find their expression in the men who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnston/men-do-not-invent-myths-they-only-invent-fables-and-tell-lies-true/) [Denis Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnston/) > [You gone wish the sperm did a backstroke when it saw the egg that created you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madea/you-gone-wish-the-sperm-did-a-backstroke-when-it-saw-the-egg-that/) [Madea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madea/) > [The world is too big and too intricate to conform to our ideas of what it should be like... Just because we invent myths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/the-world-is-too-big-and-too-intricate-to-conform-to-our-ideas-of/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [Boy, I will smack you so hard, the sperm gonna wish they did the back stroke when they saw the egg that created you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madea/boy-i-will-smack-you-so-hard-the-sperm-gonna-wish-they-did-the-back/) [Madea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madea/) > [“Can you be sure that others have not come before you and destroyed the pristine state of the native myth? 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Ziaul Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/md-ziaul-haque/) > [“Be quick to resolve conflicts before they mature to become wars. The energetic crocodile was once a delicate egg!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/be-quick-to-resolve-conflicts-before-they-mature-to-become-wars-the/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [I get the same lurching thrill now when I'm about to sit down to an egg mayonnaise sandwich and a packet of plain crisps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viv-albertine/i-get-the-same-lurching-thrill-now-when-i-m-about-to-sit-down-to-an/) [Viv Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viv-albertine/) > [I always like stories where the egg ends up on my face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/i-always-like-stories-where-the-egg-ends-up-on-my-face/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. 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The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. 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