--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t…" description: "\"“The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t that they put their tails up in the air—the really incredibly remarkable thing is that we find it remarkable. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd7/john-steinbeck-71_remarkable_the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that_2371479.jpg" --- # The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t that they put… ![“The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t that they put their tails up in the air—the really incredibly remarkable thing is that we find it remarkable. We can only use ourselves as yardsticks. If we did something as inexplicable and strange we’d probably be praying—so maybe they’re praying.” quote by John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd7/john-steinbeck-71_remarkable_the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that_2371479.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd7/john-steinbeck-71_remarkable_the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that_2371479.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd7/john-steinbeck-71_remarkable_the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that_2371479.jpg) > ““The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t that they put their tails up in the air—the really incredibly remarkable thing is that we find it remarkable. We can only use ourselves as yardsticks. If we did something as inexplicable and strange we’d probably be praying—so maybe they’re praying.”” [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We judge the extraordinary by comparing it to our own limited experience, often missing its true wonder. **In simple terms:** We compare strange things to ourselves and miss their marvel. Key Takeaway Recognize wonder beyond personal reference. Themes humility perspective wonder Mood reflective curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading literature - observing nature - discussing philosophy - teaching empathy Key Concepts anthropology subjectivity cognition Questions to Reflect On - How might you see the world without using yourself as a ruler? - What does it mean to find something remarkable beyond personal experience? A Different Perspective Our own standards can blind us to true marvels. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“People who lost their mother should be careful about committing crime, because probably no one else is praying to save you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/people-who-lost-their-mother-should-be-careful-about-committing-crime/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Learning to speak was the most remarkable thing you ever did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/learning-to-speak-was-the-most-remarkable-thing-you-ever-did/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [A single discovery within a lifetime is a very remarkable thing. Two over the course of a career-why, you'd be very lucky indeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alar-toomre/a-single-discovery-within-a-lifetime-is-a-very-remarkable-thing-two/) Alar Toomre > [The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/the-remarkable-thing-about-god-is-that-when-you-fear-god-you-fear/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [... but it's your existence I love you for, mainly. Existence seems to me now the most remarkable thing that could ever be imagined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-it-s-your-existence-i-love-you-for-mainly-existence-seems-to-me/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Maybe I was praying for him then, in my own way. Does God have a set way of prayer, a way that He expects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/maybe-i-was-praying-for-him-then-in-my-own-way-does-god-have-a-set/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [So you scream from behind your door, say what's mine is mine, and not yours I may have too much, but I'll take my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-michael/so-you-scream-from-behind-your-door-say-what-s-mine-is-mine-and-not/) [George Michael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-michael/) > [“Maybe that's what praying is all about. Maybe it's not just asking God to forgive us for bad things or asking Him for good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-darer-littman/maybe-that-s-what-praying-is-all-about-maybe-it-s-not-just-asking-god/) [Sarah Darer Littman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-darer-littman/) > [“Maybe praying was another way to practice hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/maybe-praying-was-another-way-to-practice-hope/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [“Maybe that’s all that praying was, she thought, just wishing good outcomes on other people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-mcgee/maybe-that-s-all-that-praying-was-she-thought-just-wishing-good/) [Katharine McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-mcgee/) > [For me it's a remarkable thing that there is a prize celebrating and honouring and making for a brief moment short fiction the centre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/for-me-it-s-a-remarkable-thing-that-there-is-a-prize-celebrating-and/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“the remarkable thing about life quite often is meeting people you feel you were destined to meet”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-remarkable-thing-about-life-quite-often-is-meeting-people-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Truth is a remarkable thing. We cannot miss knowing some of it. But we cannot know it entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/truth-is-a-remarkable-thing-we-cannot-miss-knowing-some-of-it-but-we/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“It is a most remarkable thing. I sat down with the full intention of writing something clever and original; but for the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/it-is-a-most-remarkable-thing-i-sat-down-with-the-full-intention-of/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [It's remarkable to watch the president, with all the weight of his ability to command rhetoric with the bully pulpit behind him, make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/it-s-remarkable-to-watch-the-president-with-all-the-weight-of-his/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) ## More by John Steinbeck > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Prayer never brought in no side-meat. Takes a shoat to bring in pork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/prayer-never-brought-in-no-side-meat-takes-a-shoat-to-bring-in-pork/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“And now submarines are armed with mass murder, our silly, only way of deterring mass murder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-now-submarines-are-armed-with-mass-murder-our-silly-only-way-of/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“I’d think there are degrees of greatness,” Adam said. “I don’t think so,” said Samuel. “That would be like saying there is a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-d-think-there-are-degrees-of-greatness-adam-said-i-don-t-think-so/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing it better and quicker, but he never in his whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-forever-inventing-a-new-way-of-doing-an-old-thing-and-doing-it/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“You come back a changed man. Samuel, you don’t change him. He changes you. I can see the look of him in your face.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/you-come-back-a-changed-man-samuel-you-don-t-change-him-he-changes/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I find out of long experience that I admire all nations and hate all governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-find-out-of-long-experience-that-i-admire-all-nations-and-hate-all/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Who in his mind has not probe the dark water?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/who-in-his-mind-has-not-probe-the-dark-water/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [People like you to be something, preferably what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/people-like-you-to-be-something-preferably-what-they-are/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Suddenly he knew joy and sorrow felted into one fabric. Courage and fear were one thing too. He found that he had started to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/suddenly-he-knew-joy-and-sorrow-felted-into-one-fabric-courage-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I am writing this from what we Americans call Yurrp. In Yurrp writers are taken as seriously as Lana Turner's legs are in America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-am-writing-this-from-what-we-americans-call-yurrp-in-yurrp-writers/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. It is a satisfaction like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-write-because-i-like-to-write-i-find-joy-in-the-texture-and-tone/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Explore all 1,589 John Steinbeck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## More Remarkable quotes > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) Harold McGee > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Learning to speak was the most remarkable thing you ever did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/learning-to-speak-was-the-most-remarkable-thing-you-ever-did/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [The sugar maple is remarkable for its clean ankle. The groves of these trees looked like vast forest sheds, their branches stoppingshort at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-sugar-maple-is-remarkable-for-its-clean-ankle-the-groves-of-these/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [There is always one option that is completely within your control: the ability to work harder than anybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-always-one-option-that-is-completely-within-your-control-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The holiness of the church means that life, as well as truth, marks Christ’s church; the behavior of Christians in the world must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clowney/the-holiness-of-the-church-means-that-life-as-well-as-truth-marks/) [Edmund Clowney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clowney/) > [Donald Trump threatened to file a defamation suit against me for running a TV ad that consisted only entirely of his own words on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/donald-trump-threatened-to-file-a-defamation-suit-against-me-for/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [“It is a remarkable fact that we must die, and yet we live as if we were to live forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guicciardini/it-is-a-remarkable-fact-that-we-must-die-and-yet-we-live-as-if-we/) Guicciardini > [In issues of recent ethnic wars and genocides - particularly if you look at Darfur - one of the most remarkable things is our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-daldry/in-issues-of-recent-ethnic-wars-and-genocides-particularly-if-you/) [Stephen Daldry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-daldry/) > [I will tell you why we have these extraordinary minds and souls, Miss Whittaker," he continued, as though he had not heard her. "We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-will-tell-you-why-we-have-these-extraordinary-minds-and-souls-miss/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [But it is impossible to divide a cube into two cubes, or a fourth power into fourth powers, or generally any power beyond the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-fermat/but-it-is-impossible-to-divide-a-cube-into-two-cubes-or-a-fourth/) [Pierre de Fermat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-fermat/) > [I don't think there's a shortage of remarkable ideas. I think your business has plenty of great opportunities to do great things. Nope, what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-shortage-of-remarkable-ideas-i-think-your/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [The epoch of Customary Law, and of its custody by a privileged order, is a very remarkable one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james-sumner-maine/the-epoch-of-customary-law-and-of-its-custody-by-a-privileged-order/) [Henry James Sumner Maine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james-sumner-maine/) > [The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul on the road…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/the-scriptures-record-remarkable-accounts-of-men-whose-lives-changed/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Michael Jackson is an extremely productive ethnographer, a serious reader of phenomenological and existential philosophy, and a remarkable writer at a level that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-kleinman/michael-jackson-is-an-extremely-productive-ethnographer-a-serious/) [Arthur Kleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-kleinman/) Browse all 1,307 Remarkable quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t that they put their tails up in the air—the really incredibly remarkable thing is that we find it remarkable. We can only use ourselves as yardsticks. If we did something as inexplicable and strange we’d probably be praying—so maybe they’re praying.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that-they-put-their-tails-up-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Remarkable" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that-they-put-their-tails-up-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd7/john-steinbeck-71_remarkable_the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that_2371479.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd7/john-steinbeck-71_remarkable_the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that_2371479.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd7/john-steinbeck-71_remarkable_the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that_2371479.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t that they put their tails up in the air—the really incredibly…” — John Steinbeck", "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": "John Steinbeck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The remarkable thing,” said Doc, “isn’t...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that-they-put-their-tails-up-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-remarkable-thing-said-doc-isn-t-that-they-put-their-tails-up-in/#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 } } ] } ```