--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is a gregarious creature, we are…" description: "\"“Man is a gregarious creature, we are told, a social being. Does that mean he is also a herd animal?...Are men no better than sheep or cattle, that the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/edward-abbey-254_animals_man-is-a-gregarious-creature-we-are-told_1822883.png" --- # Man is a gregarious creature, we are told, a social being… ![“Man is a gregarious creature, we are told, a social being. Does that mean he is also a herd animal?...Are men no better than sheep or cattle, that they must live always in view of one another in order to feel a sense of safety? I can't believe it!” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/edward-abbey-254_animals_man-is-a-gregarious-creature-we-are-told_1822883.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/edward-abbey-254_animals_man-is-a-gregarious-creature-we-are-told_1822883.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/edward-abbey-254_animals_man-is-a-gregarious-creature-we-are-told_1822883.png) > ““Man is a gregarious creature, we are told, a social being. Does that mean he is also a herd animal?...Are men no better than sheep or cattle, that they must live always in view of one another in order to feel a sense of safety? I can't believe it!”” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans are described as social beings, yet the author questions whether this forces herd-like behavior and dependence on others for safety. **In simple terms:** Humans seek safety in groups, but may lose individuality. Key Takeaway Cultivate independent thought while valuing community. Themes society individuality safety Mood critical thought‑provoking Type essay philosophical When to use this quote - workplace - online communities - urban living Key Concepts social psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Is safety worth losing autonomy? - How to balance community and individuality? A Different Perspective Group conformity can suppress personal freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ## Related quotes > [“Mammals live in herds and packs and troops because there’s safety in numbers. A mammal doesn’t consciously decide whether to stick with the herd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mammals-live-in-herds-and-packs-and-troops-because-there-s-safety-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is a gregarious animal, and much more so in his mind than in his body. He may like to go alone for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/man-is-a-gregarious-animal-and-much-more-so-in-his-mind-than-in-his/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Ship of the line is the most honourable thing that man, as a gregarious animal, has ever produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/ship-of-the-line-is-the-most-honourable-thing-that-man-as-a/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [The flag is a symbol of the fact that man is still a herd animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-flag-is-a-symbol-of-the-fact-that-man-is-still-a-herd-animal/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [It is not so much that man is a herd animal, but that he is a horde animal led by a chief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-is-not-so-much-that-man-is-a-herd-animal-but-that-he-is-a-horde/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“...for a man is a Herdentier - an animal that always follows the herd, a gregarious animal - and quickly follow's its neighbour example.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikl-s-b-nffy/for-a-man-is-a-herdentier-an-animal-that-always-follows-the-herd-a/) [Miklós Bánffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikl-s-b-nffy/) > [Of what use is it to please the herd? They are simply coarse animals - for all that is admirable in man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/of-what-use-is-it-to-please-the-herd-they-are-simply-coarse-animals/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“Humans are herd animals and we tend to do what everyone else does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/humans-are-herd-animals-and-we-tend-to-do-what-everyone-else-does/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [“Riding in the herd, the sound like one constant, endless sigh; some frantic and others calm, some remembering some wrong done to them while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-coplin/riding-in-the-herd-the-sound-like-one-constant-endless-sigh-some/) [Amanda Coplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-coplin/) > [“People would rather live in a community with unreasonable claims, than face loneliness with their truth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/people-would-rather-live-in-a-community-with-unreasonable-claims-than/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“A pride of the herd attracts one in a million of top of the crop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anyaele-sam-chiyson/a-pride-of-the-herd-attracts-one-in-a-million-of-top-of-the-crop/) Anyaele Sam Chiyson > [“...the presence of others has become even more intolerable to me, their conversation most of all. Oh, how it all annoys and exasperates me:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-lorrain/the-presence-of-others-has-become-even-more-intolerable-to-me-their/) [Jean Lorrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-lorrain/) > [Cultural institutions by and large share one primary objective: herd control. Even when ostensibly benign, their propensity for manipulation, compartmentalization, standardization and suppression of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/cultural-institutions-by-and-large-share-one-primary-objective-herd/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [How would she find her herd? How would she find you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/how-would-she-find-her-herd-how-would-she-find-you/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-herd-seek-out-the-great-not-for-their-sake-but-for-their/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. 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Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. An old wino's disease, which could lay me in the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/me-i-m-living-under-a-sword-too-as-jack-may-have-told-you-an-old-wino/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/look-here-i-want-to-say-for-godsake-folks-get-out-of-them-there/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reason-has-seldom-failed-us-because-it-has-seldom-been-tried/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“What is the essence of the art of writing? Part One: Have something to say. Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Animals quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? 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. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Man is a gregarious creature, we are told, a social being. Does that mean he is also a herd animal?...Are men no better than sheep or cattle, that they must live always in view of one another in order to feel a sense of safety? 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