--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are taught that the body is an…" description: "\"We are taught that the body is an ignorant animal intelligence dwells only in the head. But the body is smart. It does not discern between external sti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/gloria-e-anzald-a-19502_animal_we-are-taught-that-the-body-is-an-ignora_592155.png" --- # We are taught that the body is an ignorant animal… ![“We are taught that the body is an ignorant animal intelligence dwells only in the head. But the body is smart. It does not discern between external stimuli and stimuli from the imagination. It reacts equally viscerally to events from the imagination as it does to real events.” quote by Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/gloria-e-anzald-a-19502_animal_we-are-taught-that-the-body-is-an-ignora_592155.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/gloria-e-anzald-a-19502_animal_we-are-taught-that-the-body-is-an-ignora_592155.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/gloria-e-anzald-a-19502_animal_we-are-taught-that-the-body-is-an-ignora_592155.png) > “We are taught that the body is an ignorant animal intelligence dwells only in the head. But the body is smart. It does not discern between external stimuli and stimuli from the imagination. It reacts equally viscerally to events from the imagination as it does to real events.” [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The body processes imagined and real experiences alike, showing that intelligence is embodied, not just cerebral. **In simple terms:** The body reacts to imagined events as if they were real. Key Takeaway Recognize and trust bodily responses in imagination. Themes embodiment mind-body perception imagination intelligence Mood reflective insightful Type psychological philosophical When to use this quote - creative visualization - stress management - mindfulness practice - therapy - performance art Key Concepts embodied cognition psychosomatic response sensory integration Questions to Reflect On - How does your body react to imagined scenarios? - Can you use this awareness to improve emotional regulation? A Different Perspective The body may misinterpret imagined threats, leading to unnecessary stress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animal intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal-intelligence/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smart/) ## Related quotes > [The body can't distinguish between cleansing and punishing for the body is ignorant, and mute besides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-body-can-t-distinguish-between-cleansing-and-punishing-for-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [If you look up 'Intelligence' in the new volumes of the Encyclopeadia Britannica, you'll find it classified under the following three heads: Intelligence, Human;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/if-you-look-up-intelligence-in-the-new-volumes-of-the-encyclopeadia/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I was so moved by the intelligence,sense of fun and personalities of the animals I worked with on Babe that by the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cromwell/i-was-so-moved-by-the-intelligence-sense-of-fun-and-personalities-of/) [James Cromwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cromwell/) > [“It’s a notion that was proposed three decades ago by Jane Goodall and her colleague Hans Kummer. 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In her husband's bed her body had felt like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-duran/the-flesh-was-weak-but-it-was-not-dumb-it-had-its-own-animal/) [Meredith Duran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-duran/) > [“By standard intelligence texts, the dogs have failed at the puzzle. I believe, by contrast that they have succeeded magnificently. They have applied a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/by-standard-intelligence-texts-the-dogs-have-failed-at-the-puzzle-i/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [Perhaps measuring animal intelligence by comparing it to human intelligence isn't the best litmus test.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/perhaps-measuring-animal-intelligence-by-comparing-it-to-human/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [“Mankind made machines in his own likeness, and used them for his delight and service. The machines had no soul or they had no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/mankind-made-machines-in-his-own-likeness-and-used-them-for-his/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## More by Gloria E. Anzaldúa > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/a-woman-who-writes-has-power-and-a-woman-with-power-is-feared/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I will have my serpent's tongue - my woman's voice, my sexual voice, my poet's voice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/i-will-have-my-voice-indian-spanish-white-i-will-have-my-serpent-s/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [Nothing happens in the 'real' world unless it first happens in the images in our heads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/nothing-happens-in-the-real-world-unless-it-first-happens-in-the/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [In trying to become 'objective,' Western culture made 'objects' of things and people when it distanced itself from them, thereby losing 'touch' with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/in-trying-to-become-objective-western-culture-made-objects-of-things/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [The Gringo, locked into the fiction of white superiority, seized complete political power, stripping Indians and Mexicans of their land while their feet were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-gringo-locked-into-the-fiction-of-white-superiority-seized/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [Write in the kitchen, lock yourself up in the bathroom. Write on the bus or the welfare line, on the job or during meals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/write-in-the-kitchen-lock-yourself-up-in-the-bathroom-write-on-the/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [To separate from my culture (as from my family) I had to feel competent enough on the outside and secure enough inside to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/to-separate-from-my-culture-as-from-my-family-i-had-to-feel-competent/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [the world I create in writing compensates for what the real world does not give me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-world-i-create-in-writing-compensates-for-what-the-real-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [I am visible-see this Indian face-yet I am invisible. I both blind them with my beak nose and am their blind spot. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/i-am-visible-see-this-indian-face-yet-i-am-invisible-i-both-blind/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [By writing I put order in the world, give it a handle so I can grasp it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/by-writing-i-put-order-in-the-world-give-it-a-handle-so-i-can-grasp-it/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [Books saved my sanity, knowledge opened the locked places in me and taught me first how to survive and then how to soar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/books-saved-my-sanity-knowledge-opened-the-locked-places-in-me-and/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [The act of writing is the act of making soul, alchemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-act-of-writing-is-the-act-of-making-soul-alchemy/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [Write with your eyes like painters, with your ears like musicians, with your feet like dancers. You are the truthsayer with quill and torch.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/write-with-your-eyes-like-painters-with-your-ears-like-musicians-with/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [We cannot educate white women and take them by the hand. Most of us are willing to help but we can't do the white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/we-cannot-educate-white-women-and-take-them-by-the-hand-most-of-us/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) [Explore all 31 Gloria E. Anzaldúa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) ## More Animal 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 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. 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It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are taught that the body is an ignorant animal intelligence dwells only in the head. But the body is smart. It does not discern between external stimuli and stimuli from the imagination. It reacts equally viscerally to events from the imagination as it does to real events.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gloria E. 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