--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I watched the gorilla's eyes again, wise…" description: "\"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 ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/douglas-adams-122_able_i-watched-the-gorilla-s-eyes-again-wise_1931047.png" --- # I watched the gorilla's eyes again, wise and knowing eyes… ![“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…” quote by Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/douglas-adams-122_able_i-watched-the-gorilla-s-eyes-again-wise_1931047.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/douglas-adams-122_able_i-watched-the-gorilla-s-eyes-again-wise_1931047.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b69/douglas-adams-122_able_i-watched-the-gorilla-s-eyes-again-wise_1931047.png) > “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.” [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. 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. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Forests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forests/) [Gorillas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gorillas/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [There is no reason to teach an ape to become human. 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A mature male may be six feet tall and weigh 400 pounds or more; his enormous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/gorillas-are-the-largest-of-the-great-apes-a-mature-male-may-be-six/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [“Everything is improved by the judicious application of primates.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-roberson/everything-is-improved-by-the-judicious-application-of-primates/) Chris Roberson > [At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/at-some-future-period-not-very-distant-as-measured-by-centuries-the-2/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“Our close cousins the gorillas and orangs and chimps and gibbon apes have gotten along just fine all this time while eating raw vegetable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/our-close-cousins-the-gorillas-and-orangs-and-chimps-and-gibbon-apes/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Whatever part of the animal fabric whatever series of muscles, whatever viscera might be selected for comparison the result would be the same the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/whatever-part-of-the-animal-fabric-whatever-series-of-muscles/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes. 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