--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We categorize as we do because we have…" description: "\"We categorize as we do because we have the brains and bodies we have and because we interact in the world as we do.\" — George Lakoff" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/george-lakoff-17996_body_we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-t_526340.png" --- # We categorize as we do because we have the brains and… ![“We categorize as we do because we have the brains and bodies we have and because we interact in the world as we do.” quote by George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/george-lakoff-17996_body_we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-t_526340.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/george-lakoff-17996_body_we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-t_526340.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/george-lakoff-17996_body_we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-t_526340.png) > “We categorize as we do because we have the brains and bodies we have and because we interact in the world as we do.” [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our categorization stems from our brain and body structures and the way we interact with the world. **In simple terms:** Our brains shape how we classify things. Key Takeaway Consider how perception influences classification. Themes cognition language social behavior Mood analytical critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - marketing - cross‑cultural communication Key Concepts concept formation embodied cognition Questions to Reflect On - In what ways do your categories limit you? - How can you broaden your classifications? A Different Perspective Categories can limit thinking and create bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Brains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brains/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Soma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soma/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [as all clocks need winding, so all human brains and bodies need to be wound up by sleeping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-mcnair-wright/as-all-clocks-need-winding-so-all-human-brains-and-bodies-need-to-be/) [Julia McNair Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-mcnair-wright/) > [Holding onto and manipulating physical objects is one of the things we learn earliest and do the most. It should not be surprising that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/holding-onto-and-manipulating-physical-objects-is-one-of-the-things/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [For real human beings, the only realism is an embodied realism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/for-real-human-beings-the-only-realism-is-an-embodied-realism/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [To me now, I don't really categorize music - I see music as all one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-hus/to-me-now-i-don-t-really-categorize-music-i-see-music-as-all-one/) [J Hus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-hus/) > [Never categorize yourself: Society does that to you, ..don't do it to yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-priestley/never-categorize-yourself-society-does-that-to-you-don-t-do-it-to/) [Jason Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-priestley/) > [There are two kinds of people: Those who categorize people and those who don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-those-who-categorize-people-and-those/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [It seems like -- especially in religious circles and Christian circles, we want to first talk about the things we're opposed to. That means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-p-young/it-seems-like-especially-in-religious-circles-and-christian-circles/) [William P. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [I don't categorize characters into one syllable. These are fully-rounded characters that I don't judge; I just play them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-spacey/i-don-t-categorize-characters-into-one-syllable-these-are-fully/) [Kevin Spacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-spacey/) > [I think that it's human nature to categorize and label things. That's generally the way that the medical and psychological professions work. You look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-finkel/i-think-that-it-s-human-nature-to-categorize-and-label-things-that-s/) [Michael Finkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-finkel/) > [My way of living and working is that I'll do my thing. I went from one thing to another. That annoyed people. They didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-klein/my-way-of-living-and-working-is-that-i-ll-do-my-thing-i-went-from-one/) [William Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-klein/) > [Racism seduces us with its desire to categorize, shutting out the living and breathing and 'different' world all around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/racism-seduces-us-with-its-desire-to-categorize-shutting-out-the/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [If you can't categorize a film for a studio, it's really difficult for them to wrap their heads around it and give you the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/if-you-can-t-categorize-a-film-for-a-studio-it-s-really-difficult-for/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [It was very important thousands of years ago to categorize things. I can eat that plant, I can't eat that plant. Or this tribe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keegan-michael-key/it-was-very-important-thousands-of-years-ago-to-categorize-things-i/) [Keegan-Michael Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keegan-michael-key/) > [I love finding - or inventing - ways to categorize people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/i-love-finding-or-inventing-ways-to-categorize-people/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“I don't categorize things merely to simplify my understanding. I'd rather delve into the process of unlearning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-sharda/i-don-t-categorize-things-merely-to-simplify-my-understanding-i-d/) [Nikhil Sharda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-sharda/) ## More by George Lakoff > [Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/our-concepts-structure-what-we-perceive-how-we-get-around-in-the/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [Unless you frame yourself, others will frame you — the media, your enemies, your competitors, your well-meaning friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/unless-you-frame-yourself-others-will-frame-you-the-media-your/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“This is how reason really works: through framing, metaphors, emotion, narratives, and imagery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/this-is-how-reason-really-works-through-framing-metaphors-emotion/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [If you're a progressive, you can find lots of people who call themselves conservatives, but who agree with you on lots of things. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/if-you-re-a-progressive-you-can-find-lots-of-people-who-call/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [The Public provides freedom...Individualism begins after the roads are built, after individualists have had an education, after medical research has cured their diseases...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-public-provides-freedom-individualism-begins-after-the-roads-are/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-essence-of-metaphor-is-understanding-and-experiencing-one-kind-of/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“The environment is not an "other" to us. It is not a collection of things that we encounter. Rather, it is part of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-environment-is-not-an-other-to-us-it-is-not-a-collection-of/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [Barack Obama understands what Ronald Reagan learned, which is that people vote not on the basis of issues and policy details, but on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/barack-obama-understands-what-ronald-reagan-learned-which-is-that/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/our-ordinary-conceptual-system-in-terms-of-which-we-both-think-and/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [Most conservatives are conservatives because they think they are morally correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/most-conservatives-are-conservatives-because-they-think-they-are/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [You can't understand Twenty-first-Century Politics with an Eighteenth-Century Brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/you-can-t-understand-twenty-first-century-politics-with-an-eighteenth/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“If you believe in the eighteenth century view of the mind, you will look and act wimpy. You will think that all you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/if-you-believe-in-the-eighteenth-century-view-of-the-mind-you-will/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [“The biology of empathy allows us to comprehend our connection to each other, to other living things, and to the physical world that supports…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-biology-of-empathy-allows-us-to-comprehend-our-connection-to-each/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [One of the things cognitive science teaches us is that when people define their very identity by a worldview, or a narrative, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/one-of-the-things-cognitive-science-teaches-us-is-that-when-people/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [One of the reasons that politics lets us down is that we keep comparing it to our ideal narratives, to politics on TV or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/one-of-the-reasons-that-politics-lets-us-down-is-that-we-keep/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) [Explore all 36 George Lakoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [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/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) Jennifer Siebel Newsom > [Boys and boys' body image and clothes have become just as important an issue for boys as for girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/boys-and-boys-body-image-and-clothes-have-become-just-as-important-an/) [Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Racism is a cancer. You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [I read a couple of books about neuroscience and the relationship between the mind and the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/i-read-a-couple-of-books-about-neuroscience-and-the-relationship/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) > [If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. Modern day diseases are mostly psychosomatic.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/if-japa-is-maintained-no-useless-talk-during-work-will-be-possible/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) [Browse all 20,814 Body quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We categorize as we do because we have the brains and bodies we have and because we interact in the world as we do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Lakoff" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-the-brains-and-bodies-we-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Body" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-the-brains-and-bodies-we-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/george-lakoff-17996_body_we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-t_526340.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/george-lakoff-17996_body_we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-t_526340.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/530/george-lakoff-17996_body_we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-t_526340.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We categorize as we do because we have the brains and bodies we have and because we interact in the world as…” — George Lakoff", "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": "George Lakoff", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We categorize as we do because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-the-brains-and-bodies-we-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-the-brains-and-bodies-we-have/#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 } } ] } ```