--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reply to Plato: I seen horses I seen cows…" description: "\"Reply to Plato: I seen horses I seen cows I haint never yet seen horsiness nor that there bovinity neither.\" — Edward Abbey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/edward-abbey-254_cows_reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows_1033244.png" --- # Reply to Plato: I seen horses I seen cows I haint never… ![“Reply to Plato: I seen horses I seen cows I haint never yet seen horsiness nor that there bovinity neither.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/edward-abbey-254_cows_reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows_1033244.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/edward-abbey-254_cows_reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows_1033244.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/edward-abbey-254_cows_reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows_1033244.png) > “Reply to Plato: I seen horses I seen cows I haint never yet seen horsiness nor that there bovinity neither.” [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. The speaker contrasts observed animals with abstract concepts, highlighting the difficulty of perceiving intangible qualities. **In simple terms:** Seeing animals is easy, but grasping their essence is not. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of perception. Themes perception abstraction reality Mood contemplative curious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - wildlife observation - philosophical debate - creative writing Key Concepts philosophy language ontology Questions to Reflect On - How do we name what we cannot see? - Can language capture true essence? A Different Perspective Abstract ideas may resist concrete description. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) ## Related quotes > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. 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Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [The great spiritual geniuses, whether it was Moses, Buddha, Plato, Socrates, Jesus, or Emerson… have taught man to look within himself to find God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/the-great-spiritual-geniuses-whether-it-was-moses-buddha-plato/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato, and Cicero, just to name a few, all lived in pagan societies. 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Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [Plato calls complacency the companion of loneliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/plato-calls-complacency-the-companion-of-loneliness/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) ## 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 Cows quotes > [We were so poor as kids. I didn't even see a bathtub, running water, hot water, commode - we didn't have any of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/we-were-so-poor-as-kids-i-didn-t-even-see-a-bathtub-running-water-hot/) [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) > [Cows are a lot smarter across the board than bulls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-haden-church/cows-are-a-lot-smarter-across-the-board-than-bulls/) [Thomas Haden Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-haden-church/) > [ Gonna rain like a cow pissin' on a flat rock" \[drugstore clerk to detective Virgil Flowers\] Dark of the Moon, p.7 ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sandford/gonna-rain-like-a-cow-pissin-on-a-flat-rock-drugstore-clerk-to/) [John Sandford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sandford/) > [In most agencies, account executives outnumber the copywriters two to one. 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The cowboy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-wilson-nye/spring-comes-with-joyous-laugh-and-song-and-sunshine-and-the-burnt/) [Edgar Wilson Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-wilson-nye/) > [Talking to animals' isn't a matter of words used, it is a matter of your thoughts, your expression, and above all the tone of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-woodhouse/talking-to-animals-isn-t-a-matter-of-words-used-it-is-a-matter-of/) [Barbara Woodhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-woodhouse/) > [Learning is like a cow of desire. It, like her, yields in all seasons. Like a mother, it feeds you on your journey. Therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/learning-is-like-a-cow-of-desire-it-like-her-yields-in-all-seasons/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The velocity of light occupies an extraordinary place in modern physics. It is lèse-majesté to make any criticism of the velocity of light. 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An audience is like a herd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/every-lecture-should-state-one-main-point-and-repeat-it-over-and-over/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) Browse all 903 Cows quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Reply to Plato: I seen horses I seen cows I haint never yet seen horsiness nor that there bovinity neither.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Abbey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows-i-haint-never-yet-seen/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows-i-haint-never-yet-seen/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/edward-abbey-254_cows_reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows_1033244.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/edward-abbey-254_cows_reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows_1033244.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/edward-abbey-254_cows_reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows_1033244.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reply to Plato: I seen horses I seen cows I haint never yet seen horsiness nor that there bovinity neither.” — Edward Abbey", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edward Abbey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Reply to Plato: I seen horses...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows-i-haint-never-yet-seen/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reply-to-plato-i-seen-horses-i-seen-cows-i-haint-never-yet-seen/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```