--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is rather an unpleasant fact, that the…" description: "\"It is rather an unpleasant fact, that the ugliest and awkwardest of brute animals have the greatest resemblance to man: the monkey and the bear. The mo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/charles-lamb-1144_action_it-is-rather-an-unpleasant-fact-that-the_409208.jpg" --- # It is rather an unpleasant fact, that the ugliest and… ![“It is rather an unpleasant fact, that the ugliest and awkwardest of brute animals have the greatest resemblance to man: the monkey and the bear. The monkey is ugly too (so we think) because he is like man--as the bear is awkward, because the cumbrous action of its huge paws seems to be a…” quote by Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/charles-lamb-1144_action_it-is-rather-an-unpleasant-fact-that-the_409208.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/charles-lamb-1144_action_it-is-rather-an-unpleasant-fact-that-the_409208.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/charles-lamb-1144_action_it-is-rather-an-unpleasant-fact-that-the_409208.jpg) > “It is rather an unpleasant fact, that the ugliest and awkwardest of brute animals have the greatest resemblance to man: the monkey and the bear. The monkey is ugly too (so we think) because he is like man--as the bear is awkward, because the cumbrous action of its huge paws seems to be a preposterous imitation of the motions of human hands. Men and apes are the only animals that have hairs on the under eye-lid. Let kings know this.” [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer notes that monkeys and bears, the most awkward animals, resemble humans, emphasizing our shared imperfections and physical similarities. **In simple terms:** Monkeys and bears are awkward like humans, showing shared flaws. Key Takeaway Recognize human flaws reflected in animals. Themes human nature imperfection animal comparison Mood wry thoughtful Type humorous philosophical When to use this quote - education - self‑reflection - humorous critique Key Concepts anthropomorphism evolutionary biology humor Questions to Reflect On - What does this similarity reveal about humanity? - How can humor help us accept imperfections? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex evolutionary traits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Awkward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awkward/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Brutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutes/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hair/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Huge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/huge/) [Human hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-hands/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Imitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitation/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Man Monkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-monkey-3652103/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Monkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkey/) [Monkey Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkey-bear-3652104/) [Monkey Ugly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkey-ugly-3652102/) [Monkeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkeys/) [Paws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paws/) [Resemblance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resemblance/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Ugly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugly/) ## Related quotes > [Money makes a man; even if he were a monkey before to start with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/money-makes-a-man-even-if-he-were-a-monkey-before-to-start-with/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [There is a book into which some of us are happily led to look, and to look again, and never tire of looking. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-besant/there-is-a-book-into-which-some-of-us-are-happily-led-to-look-and-to/) [Walter Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-besant/) > [“Perhaps nothing is so fraught with significance as the human hand, this oldest tool with which man has dug his way from savagery, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/perhaps-nothing-is-so-fraught-with-significance-as-the-human-hand-2/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [With all its technical sophistication, the photographic camera remains a coarse device compared to the human hand and brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/with-all-its-technical-sophistication-the-photographic-camera-remains/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [Actually I think CGI has the potential to equal or even surpass what the human hand can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayao-miyazaki/actually-i-think-cgi-has-the-potential-to-equal-or-even-surpass-what/) [Hayao Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayao-miyazaki/) > [Reason cannot desire for man any condition other than that in which not only every individual enjoys the most absolute, unbounded freedom to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/reason-cannot-desire-for-man-any-condition-other-than-that-in-which/) [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/) > [The most important innovation in medicine to come in the next 10 years: the power of the human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/the-most-important-innovation-in-medicine-to-come-in-the-next-10/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-human-hand-allows-the-mind-to-reveal-itself/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [I believe in animal rights, and high among them is the right to the gentle stroke of a human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-believe-in-animal-rights-and-high-among-them-is-the-right-to-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Standing on the bridge, looking across at that empty city, everything in the compass of my gaze had been set there by a human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-theroux/standing-on-the-bridge-looking-across-at-that-empty-city-everything/) [Marcel Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-theroux/) > [And so the Word had breath, and wrought With human hands the creed of creeds In loveliness of perfect deeds, More strong than all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/and-so-the-word-had-breath-and-wrought-with-human-hands-the-creed-of/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [We are hungry for things that have touched human hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-popcorn/we-are-hungry-for-things-that-have-touched-human-hands/) [Faith Popcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-popcorn/) > [Life itself is the real and most miraculous miracle of all. If one had never before seen a human hand and were suddenly presented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-fry/life-itself-is-the-real-and-most-miraculous-miracle-of-all-if-one-had/) [Christopher Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-fry/) > [Perhaps nothing is so fraught with significance as the human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/perhaps-nothing-is-so-fraught-with-significance-as-the-human-hand/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [People have often assumed that for music to be emotionally powerful it has to come directly from a human hand, whereas I disagree with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/squarepusher/people-have-often-assumed-that-for-music-to-be-emotionally-powerful/) [Squarepusher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/squarepusher/) ## More by Charles Lamb > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [In the indications of female poverty there can be no disguise. No woman dresses below herself from caprice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/in-the-indications-of-female-poverty-there-can-be-no-disguise-no/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/to-sigh-yet-feel-no-pain-to-weep-yet-scarce-know-why-to-sport-an-hour/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“I love to lose myself in other men's minds. When I am not walking, I am reading.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds-when-i-am-not-walking-i-am/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [While childhood, and while dreams, producing childhood, shall be left, imagination shall not have spread her holy wings totally to fly the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/while-childhood-and-while-dreams-producing-childhood-shall-be-left/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Man, while he loves, is never quite depraved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/man-while-he-loves-is-never-quite-depraved/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/summer-as-my-friend-coleridge-waggishly-writes-has-set-in-with-its/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I counsel thee, shut not thy heart, nor thy library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-counsel-thee-shut-not-thy-heart-nor-thy-library/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/my-theory-is-to-enjoy-life-but-the-practice-is-against-it/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Those evening bells! those evening bells! How many a tale their music tells Of youth and home, and that sweet time When last I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/those-evening-bells-those-evening-bells-how-many-a-tale-their-music/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Beholding heaven, and feeling hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/beholding-heaven-and-feeling-hell/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Explore all 283 Charles Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More Action quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. The first is decide exactly what you want - set your goals - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/i-always-say-there-are-two-things-to-be-successful-the-first-is/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Every thought I have imprisioned in expression I must free by my deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/every-thought-i-have-imprisioned-in-expression-i-must-free-by-my-deeds/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-you-begin-changing-your-thinking-start-immediately-to-change-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. 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