Able Quote by Douglas Adams
“I watched the gorilla's eyes again, wise and knowing eyes, and wondered about this business of trying to teach apes language. Our language. Why? There are many members of our own species who live in and with the forest and know it and understand it. We don't listen to them. What is there to suggest we would listen to anything an ape could tell us? Or that it would be able to tell us of its life in a language that hasn't been born of that life? I thought, maybe it is not that they have yet to gain a language, it is that we have lost one.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview, 1990s (source unclear)
The speaker questions humanity's failure to listen to nature and other species, suggesting we have lost a primal language.
In simple terms: We ignore nature's wisdom, perhaps losing an ancient language.
Key Takeaway
Listen more to the natural world.
Themes
environment
communication
humility
Mood
reflective
concerned
Type
philosophical
environmental
When to use this quote
- conservation work
- education
- cross‑species research
Key Concepts
ecology
language loss
anthropocentrism
Questions to Reflect On
- What can we learn from observing animals?
- How might we recover lost ways of knowing?
A Different Perspective
Assumes a mystical language without evidence.
![“Does God know he [exists]?" "Of course he does. Otherwise, you could not have asked the question, and I could not have answered.” quote by Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a21/douglas-adams-122_courses_does-god-know-he-exists-of-course-he-doe_26187.jpg)
