--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Find a printer paper and imagine a…" description: "\"Find a printer paper and imagine a full-grown bird shaped something like a football with legs standing on it. Imagine 33,000 of these rectangles in a g..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/jonathan-safran-foer-136_bird_find-a-printer-paper-and-imagine-a-full_1699314.png" --- # Find a printer paper and imagine a full-grown bird shaped… ![“Find a printer paper and imagine a full-grown bird shaped something like a football with legs standing on it. Imagine 33,000 of these rectangles in a grid. (Broilers are never in cages, and never on multiple levels.) Now enclose the grid with windowless walls and put a ceiling on top. Run in…” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/jonathan-safran-foer-136_bird_find-a-printer-paper-and-imagine-a-full_1699314.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/jonathan-safran-foer-136_bird_find-a-printer-paper-and-imagine-a-full_1699314.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/jonathan-safran-foer-136_bird_find-a-printer-paper-and-imagine-a-full_1699314.png) > “Find a printer paper and imagine a full-grown bird shaped something like a football with legs standing on it. Imagine 33,000 of these rectangles in a grid. (Broilers are never in cages, and never on multiple levels.) Now enclose the grid with windowless walls and put a ceiling on top. Run in automated (drug-laced) feed, water, heating, and ventilation systems. This is a farm.” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal description of industrial poultry farming, highlighting its mechanized, dehumanized nature. **In simple terms:** Industrial farms are sterile, mass‑producing cages. Key Takeaway Recognize the hidden cost of cheap food. Themes food ethics industrialization Mood critical reflective Type analytical provocative When to use this quote - grocery shopping - policy debate - restaurant sourcing - activism Key Concepts dehumanization mass production animal welfare Questions to Reflect On - What ethical compromises do you accept in food choices? - How might transparency change consumer behavior? A Different Perspective Simplifies complex systems into a single image. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Bird Shaped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird-shaped-1133828/) [Broilers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broilers-1133825/) [Broilers Cages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broilers-cages-1133826/) [Cages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cages/) [Ceilings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceilings/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Football](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/football/) [Grid Broilers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grid-broilers-1133824/) [Grids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grids/) [Grown Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grown-bird-1133827/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Legs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legs/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Multiple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multiple/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Printer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/printer/) [Rectangles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rectangles/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Standing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standing/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [One night I had an idea while I was at the movies: to photograph the film itself. I tried to imagine photographing an entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroshi-sugimoto/one-night-i-had-an-idea-while-i-was-at-the-movies-to-photograph-the/) [Hiroshi Sugimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroshi-sugimoto/) > [I loved to press the shutter, to freeze time, to turn little slices of life into rectangle rife with metaphor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-loved-to-press-the-shutter-to-freeze-time-to-turn-little-slices-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To speak technically photography is the art of writing with light. But if I want to think about it more philosophically, I can say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerardo-suter/to-speak-technically-photography-is-the-art-of-writing-with-light-but/) [Gerardo Suter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerardo-suter/) > [The photograph gives constant reference to the rectangle. This forces any idea into the confines of pictorial illusionism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-oppenheim/the-photograph-gives-constant-reference-to-the-rectangle-this-forces/) [Dennis Oppenheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-oppenheim/) > [A postcard. Neat handwriting fills the rectangle. Half my days I cannot bear to touch you. The rest of my time I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/a-postcard-neat-handwriting-fills-the-rectangle-half-my-days-i-cannot/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [In truth a clear-headed physicalist shouldn't be thinking any of these dualist thoughts. If pains are one and the same as C-fibres firing, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/in-truth-a-clear-headed-physicalist-shouldn-t-be-thinking-any-of/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [I am afraid that there are more people than I can imagine who can go no further than appreciating a picture that is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-eggleston/i-am-afraid-that-there-are-more-people-than-i-can-imagine-who-can-go/) [William Eggleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-eggleston/) > [In the Far East, we look at life in terms of circles. In the West, they look at life more in terms of squares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/in-the-far-east-we-look-at-life-in-terms-of-circles-in-the-west-they/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [In tennis the addict moves about a hard rectangle and seeks to ambush a fuzzy ball with a modified snow-shoe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-chaze/in-tennis-the-addict-moves-about-a-hard-rectangle-and-seeks-to-ambush/) [Elliott Chaze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-chaze/) > [The form of my painting is the content. My work is made of single or multiple panels: rectangle, curved, or square. I am less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-kelly/the-form-of-my-painting-is-the-content-my-work-is-made-of-single-or/) [Ellsworth Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-kelly/) > [Art is the space between the viewer and the rectangle that hangs on the wall. Unless something of the person that created the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-allen-lawson/art-is-the-space-between-the-viewer-and-the-rectangle-that-hangs-on/) [T. Allen Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-allen-lawson/) > [Psychiatry is all biological and all social. There is no mental function without brain and social context. To ask how much of mind is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-eisenberg/psychiatry-is-all-biological-and-all-social-there-is-no-mental/) [Leon Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-eisenberg/) > [The sun appears in one of the upper corners of the rectangle, on the left of anyone looking at the picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-sun-appears-in-one-of-the-upper-corners-of-the-rectangle-on-the/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I don't understand why we have to experiment with film. I think everything should be done on paper. A musician has to do it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hitchcock/i-don-t-understand-why-we-have-to-experiment-with-film-i-think/) [Alfred Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-hitchcock/) > [It's possible to think of photography as an act of editing, a matter of where you put your rectangle pull it out or take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kenna/it-s-possible-to-think-of-photography-as-an-act-of-editing-a-matter/) [Michael Kenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kenna/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) [Nina Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-schuyler/) > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Find a printer paper and imagine a full-grown bird shaped something like a football with legs standing on it. 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