--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We’re beings toward death, we’re…" description: "\"“We’re beings toward death, we’re featherless, two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/cornel-west-708_beings_we-re-beings-toward-death-we-re-featherl_2793491.jpg" --- # We’re beings toward death, we’re featherless, two-legged… ![“We’re beings toward death, we’re featherless, two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be the culinary delight of terrestrial worms. That's us.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/cornel-west-708_beings_we-re-beings-toward-death-we-re-featherl_2793491.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/cornel-west-708_beings_we-re-beings-toward-death-we-re-featherl_2793491.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/cornel-west-708_beings_we-re-beings-toward-death-we-re-featherl_2793491.jpg) > ““We’re beings toward death, we’re featherless, two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be the culinary delight of terrestrial worms. That's us.”” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings are fragile, conscious creatures destined to become food for worms, underscoring our mortality and absurdity. **In simple terms:** We are mortal, conscious, and ultimately consumed. Key Takeaway Remember life’s fleeting nature. Themes mortality existentialism humor Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical darkly humorous When to use this quote - funeral planning - mindfulness practice - creative writing Key Concepts philosophy biology anthropology Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect your daily choices? - What does “featherless” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective May seem overly cynical or humorous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beings/) [Beings Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beings-death-537900/) [Conscious Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious-creatures-537898/) [Creatures Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures-born-2650191/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Feces Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feces-body-537899/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [We’re beings toward death, we’re … two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be the culinary delight of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/we-re-beings-toward-death-we-re-two-legged-linguistically-conscious/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [We poor creatures are born for man's pleasure and amusement, and destined to go through endless sufferings and trials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-victoria/we-poor-creatures-are-born-for-man-s-pleasure-and-amusement-and/) [Queen Victoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-victoria/) > [Values reduce to facts about the well-being of conscious creatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/values-reduce-to-facts-about-the-well-being-of-conscious-creatures/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“An admirable line of Pablo Neruda’s, “My creatures are born of a long denial,” seems to me the best definition of writing as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/an-admirable-line-of-pablo-neruda-s-my-creatures-are-born-of-a-long/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [There are two kinds of death, the death which is inevitable and common to all beings, and the death which is voluntary and particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdelkader-el-djezairi/there-are-two-kinds-of-death-the-death-which-is-inevitable-and-common/) [Abdelkader El Djezairi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdelkader-el-djezairi/) > [“The judgement of death upon humanity was brought into existence by God; it is his severest judgement. 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Be who you are meant to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-dentinger/nourish-your-nature-be-who-you-are-meant-to-be/) [Diana Dentinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-dentinger/) > [“When life gets rough,don't panic! Just let it be! Life is leading you to still waters!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-vivencio-ballano/when-life-gets-rough-don-t-panic-just-let-it-be-life-is-leading-you/) [Dr. Vivencio Ballano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-vivencio-ballano/) > [“I'll be honest about it. It is not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for a while. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martel-yann/i-ll-be-honest-about-it-it-is-not-atheists-who-get-stuck-in-my-craw/) [Martel, Yann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martel-yann/) > [“No es que escribir me produzca un gran placer, pero es mucho peor si no lo hago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/no-es-que-escribir-me-produzca-un-gran-placer-pero-es-mucho-peor-si/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“ALways be careful what you say. You can always say you're sorry, but you can never take back what you said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-b-newman/always-be-careful-what-you-say-you-can-always-say-you-re-sorry-but/) [F.B. Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-b-newman/) > [“Writing is turning life's worst moments into money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-donleavy/writing-is-turning-life-s-worst-moments-into-money/) [J.P. Donleavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-donleavy/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Beings quotes > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) [Hanns Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanns-eisler/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I'm a humanist at heart: at the end of the day, we are all human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chet-faker/i-m-a-humanist-at-heart-at-the-end-of-the-day-we-are-all-human-beings/) [Chet Faker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chet-faker/) > [My intended audience was everybody. I just want to make cartoons for human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kricfalusi/my-intended-audience-was-everybody-i-just-want-to-make-cartoons-for/) [John Kricfalusi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kricfalusi/) > [Everyone else on the planet, from the lowest amoebae to the great blue whale, expresses all their component elements in a perfect dance with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-lore/everyone-else-on-the-planet-from-the-lowest-amoebae-to-the-great-blue/) [Nicholas Lore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-lore/) > [I have never really been fond of animals. I certainly wasn't an 'animal lover' when I became involved in the movement. I just came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/i-have-never-really-been-fond-of-animals-i-certainly-wasn-t-an-animal/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [As human beings, we aren't as individual as we'd like to believe we are. 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Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) [Browse all 979 Beings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We’re beings toward death, we’re featherless, two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be the culinary delight of terrestrial worms. 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