--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Each man is a tool in his own hands…" description: "\"Each man is a tool in his own hands. Mankind is a tool in its own hands.\" — Gordon R Dickson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/gordon-r-dickson-2-40823_nature-of-man_each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mank_1223469.jpg" --- # Each man is a tool in his own hands. Mankind is a tool in… ![“Each man is a tool in his own hands. Mankind is a tool in its own hands.” quote by Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/gordon-r-dickson-2-40823_nature-of-man_each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mank_1223469.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/gordon-r-dickson-2-40823_nature-of-man_each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mank_1223469.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/gordon-r-dickson-2-40823_nature-of-man_each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mank_1223469.jpg) > “Each man is a tool in his own hands. Mankind is a tool in its own hands.” [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People shape their destiny through personal agency, and humanity collectively determines its future. **In simple terms:** We control ourselves and humanity. Key Takeaway Take responsibility for personal and collective actions. Themes responsibility agency humanity choice Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal goal setting - community projects - political activism - environmental stewardship Key Concepts existentialism self-determination collective agency Questions to Reflect On - How can personal agency influence larger societal change? - What responsibilities arise when humanity is seen as a tool? A Different Perspective Individual effort alone cannot solve systemic issues without cooperation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hands Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-mankind-3453756/) [Man Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-tool-1411280/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Mankind Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind-tool-3756248/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Tool Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tool-hands-1312495/) ## Related quotes > [“Human rights; they are in the hands of mankind and nowhere else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/human-rights-they-are-in-the-hands-of-mankind-and-nowhere-else/) [sir kristian goldmund aumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/) > [“Hands can cook, hands can create, hands can kill. There is no better tool than our hands.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/hands-can-cook-hands-can-create-hands-can-kill-there-is-no-better/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Men are more important than tools. If you don't believe so, put a good tool into the hands of a poor workman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-joseph-bernet/men-are-more-important-than-tools-if-you-don-t-believe-so-put-a-good/) [John Joseph Bernet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-joseph-bernet/) > [Everyone in my family used to work with some kind of tool in their hands every day. That's what we do. That's what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-leblanc/everyone-in-my-family-used-to-work-with-some-kind-of-tool-in-their/) [Matt LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-leblanc/) > [Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/man-is-a-tool-using-animal-without-tools-he-is-nothing-with-tools-he/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The most satisfactory definition of man from the scientific point of view is probably Man the Tool-maker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-oakley/the-most-satisfactory-definition-of-man-from-the-scientific-point-of/) [Kenneth Oakley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-oakley/) > [“One man"s tool is another man's weapon. - Bruce Wayne”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-cox/one-man-s-tool-is-another-man-s-weapon-bruce-wayne/) [Greg Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-cox/) > [Man is a tool-making animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/man-is-a-tool-making-animal/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Man is a tool-using animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/man-is-a-tool-using-animal/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Certain anthropologists hold that man, having discovered tools, ceased to evolve biologically. Animals, never having discovered them, continue to fashion drills out of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/certain-anthropologists-hold-that-man-having-discovered-tools-ceased/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [Man has become a tool of his tools? Man, what a tool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-alejandro-king-aka-the-covert-comic/man-has-become-a-tool-of-his-tools-man-what-a-tool/) [John Alejandro King Aka The Covert Comic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-alejandro-king-aka-the-covert-comic/) > [There is a way in which the collective knowledge of mankind expresses itself, for the finite individual, through mere daily living . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurens-van-der-post/there-is-a-way-in-which-the-collective-knowledge-of-mankind-expresses/) [Laurens van der Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurens-van-der-post/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Gordon R Dickson > [Intelligencecall it intellectual capacityalone can be helpless in a situation where knowledge or experience is required.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/intelligencecall-it-intellectual-capacityalone-can-be-helpless-in-a/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [An experts a man who knows a great deal about his subject. A scholars someone who knows all there is thats available to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/an-experts-a-man-who-knows-a-great-deal-about-his-subject-a-scholars/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [A bureaucracy is like a living creature, with instincts of self-preservation and an urge to control all things for its own protection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/a-bureaucracy-is-like-a-living-creature-with-instincts-of-self/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [The soldier loves action; the politician the sound of his own voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/the-soldier-loves-action-the-politician-the-sound-of-his-own-voice/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [The Spanish language has a number of ... poetically insulting curses to throw at your enemy; and the words 'su madre' are in most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/the-spanish-language-has-a-number-of-poetically-insulting-curses-to/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [An ethical man survives in a bureaucratic post only if he puts his ethics in second place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/an-ethical-man-survives-in-a-bureaucratic-post-only-if-he-puts-his/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [The man who hints that you are a thief is almost sure to have a large, vulnerable area of dishonesty in his own inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/the-man-who-hints-that-you-are-a-thief-is-almost-sure-to-have-a-large/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [Progress is made by the friction of opposites. The human creature climbs upward using first his right hand and then his left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/progress-is-made-by-the-friction-of-opposites-the-human-creature/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) > [When you pick up an inch of the present to move it, you also pick up several thousand years of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/when-you-pick-up-an-inch-of-the-present-to-move-it-you-also-pick-up/) [Gordon R Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) [Explore all 10 Gordon R Dickson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/) ## More Mankind quotes > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Because I have confidence in the power of truth, and of the spirit, I have confidence in the future of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/because-i-have-confidence-in-the-power-of-truth-and-of-the-spirit-i/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-temptations-of-god-were-always-more-dangerous-for-mankind-than/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [A South Korean inventor has finally created the robot that mankind has been waiting for. Scientists who have been worried about the robot apocalypse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pesca/a-south-korean-inventor-has-finally-created-the-robot-that-mankind/) [Mike Pesca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pesca/) > [My dreams were always small and puny. All I ever needed was a little house with a little picket fence by the sea. Little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imelda-marcos/my-dreams-were-always-small-and-puny-all-i-ever-needed-was-a-little/) [Imelda Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imelda-marcos/) > [You should avoid hedging, at least that's what I think. You should be ashamed to die until you've made some contribution to mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-johns/you-should-avoid-hedging-at-least-that-s-what-i-think-you-should-be/) [Vernon Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-johns/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/is-man-no-more-than-this-consider-him-well-thou-ow-st-the-worm-no/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-only-the-broad-square-with-the-scattered-dim-moons-of-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [There is a way in which the collective knowledge of mankind expresses itself, for the finite individual, through mere daily living . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurens-van-der-post/there-is-a-way-in-which-the-collective-knowledge-of-mankind-expresses/) [Laurens van der Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurens-van-der-post/) [Browse all 4,668 Mankind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Each man is a tool in his own hands. Mankind is a tool in its own hands.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gordon R Dickson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mankind-is-a-tool-in-its-own-hands/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mankind" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mankind-is-a-tool-in-its-own-hands/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/gordon-r-dickson-2-40823_nature-of-man_each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mank_1223469.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/gordon-r-dickson-2-40823_nature-of-man_each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mank_1223469.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/gordon-r-dickson-2-40823_nature-of-man_each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mank_1223469.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Each man is a tool in his own hands. Mankind is a tool in its own hands.” — Gordon R Dickson", "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": "Gordon R Dickson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-r-dickson-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Each man is a tool in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mankind-is-a-tool-in-its-own-hands/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-r-dickson-2/each-man-is-a-tool-in-his-own-hands-mankind-is-a-tool-in-its-own-hands/#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 } } ] } ```