--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: \"Natural\" man is always there, under the…" description: "\"\"Natural\" man is always there, under the changeable historical man. We call him and he comes-a little sleepy, benumbed, without his lost form of instin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_alive_natural-man-is-always-there-under-the-ch_731107.jpg" --- # "Natural" man is always there, under the changeable… ![“"Natural" man is always there, under the changeable historical man. We call him and he comes-a little sleepy, benumbed, without his lost form of instinctive hunter, but, after all, still alive. Natural man is first prehistoric man-the hunter.” quote by Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_alive_natural-man-is-always-there-under-the-ch_731107.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_alive_natural-man-is-always-there-under-the-ch_731107.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_alive_natural-man-is-always-there-under-the-ch_731107.jpg) > “"Natural" man is always there, under the changeable historical man. We call him and he comes-a little sleepy, benumbed, without his lost form of instinctive hunter, but, after all, still alive. Natural man is first prehistoric man-the hunter.” [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature is rooted in primal instincts; modern society masks these instincts, yet they persist beneath cultural changes. **In simple terms:** Our primal instincts remain despite modern masks. Key Takeaway Recognize and integrate innate instincts. Themes human nature instinct modernity Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - urban living - technology use - personal identity Key Concepts anthropology psychology cultural criticism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance instinct and reason? - What modern changes conceal our primal drives? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on primal instincts may ignore rational growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hunters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunters/) [Hunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunting/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Prehistoric man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prehistoric-man/) ## Related quotes > [PREHISTORIC, adj. Belonging to an early period and a museum. Antedating the art and practice of perpetuating falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/prehistoric-adj-belonging-to-an-early-period-and-a-museum-antedating/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Soil erosion is as old as agriculture. It began when the first heavy rain struck the first furrow turned by a crude implement of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hammond-bennett/soil-erosion-is-as-old-as-agriculture-it-began-when-the-first-heavy/) [Hugh Hammond Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hammond-bennett/) > [Cookery is the art of preparing food for the nourishment of the body. Prehistoric man may have lived on uncooked foods, but there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-farmer/cookery-is-the-art-of-preparing-food-for-the-nourishment-of-the-body/) Fannie Farmer > [The body was the slave of the vortex; but the slave has become the master; and we must free ourselves from that tyranny. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-body-was-the-slave-of-the-vortex-but-the-slave-has-become-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Prehistoric man was halfnaked out of no choice, today it be fashion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/prehistoric-man-was-halfnaked-out-of-no-choice-today-it-be-fashion/) Mak\_786 > [I don't think I'm wrong when I say that the most beautiful objects of the "stone age" were made of skin, fabric, and especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/i-don-t-think-i-m-wrong-when-i-say-that-the-most-beautiful-objects-of/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Through the release of atomic energy, our generation has brought into the world the most revolutionary force since prehistoric man's discovery of fire. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/through-the-release-of-atomic-energy-our-generation-has-brought-into/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Man needs spiritual expression and nourishing... even in the prehistoric era, people would scrawl pictures of bison on the walls of caves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-botero/man-needs-spiritual-expression-and-nourishing-even-in-the-prehistoric/) [Fernando Botero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-botero/) > [ The human cardiovascular system evolved as part of the physiology of \[prehistoric\] hunters, who ran for their lives. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-human-cardiovascular-system-evolved-as-part-of-the-physiology-of/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [ “...the student of prehistoric man...cannot reject \[the Castenedolo skull\] as false without doing injury to his sense of truth, and he cannot accept it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-keith/the-student-of-prehistoric-man-cannot-reject-the-castenedolo-skull-as/) [Arthur Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-keith/) > [“He admired this too: their ability to preserve joy at any cost, the way prehistoric man might have preserved fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-alarcon/he-admired-this-too-their-ability-to-preserve-joy-at-any-cost-the-way/) [Daniel Alarcón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-alarcon/) > [Living is having ups and downs and sharing them with friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-parker/living-is-having-ups-and-downs-and-sharing-them-with-friends/) [Trey Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-parker/) > [I've learned that all a person has in life is family and friends. If you lose those, you have nothing, so friends are to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-parker/i-ve-learned-that-all-a-person-has-in-life-is-family-and-friends-if/) [Trey Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-parker/) > [The hunter is the alert man. But this itself-life as complete alertness-is the attitude in which the animal exists in the jungle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-hunter-is-the-alert-man-but-this-itself-life-as-complete/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In our rather stupid time, hunting is belittled and misunderstood, many refusing to see it for the vital vacation from the human condition that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-our-rather-stupid-time-hunting-is-belittled-and-misunderstood-many/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More by Jose Ortega y Gasset > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-order-to-master-the-unruly-torrent-of-life-the-learned-man/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-sat-isfied man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-form-most-contradictory-to-human-life-that-can-appear-among-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“For there is no doubt that the most radical division that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits into two classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/for-there-is-no-doubt-that-the-most-radical-division-that-is-possible/) [José Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/what-makes-a-nation-great-is-not-primarily-its-great-men-but-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/to-be-surprised-to-wonder-is-to-begin-to-understand-this-is-the-sport/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/romantic-poses-aside-let-us-recognize-that-falling-in-love-is-an/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Law is born from despair of human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/law-is-born-from-despair-of-human-nature/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The masses think that is is easy to flee from reality, when it is the most difficult thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-masses-think-that-is-is-easy-to-flee-from-reality-when-it-is-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-librarian-s-mission-should-be-not-like-up-to-now-a-mere-handling/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Whether he be an original or a plagiarist, man is the novelist of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/whether-he-be-an-original-or-a-plagiarist-man-is-the-novelist-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Here, then, is the point at which I see the new mission of the librarian rise up incomparably higher than all those preceding. Up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/here-then-is-the-point-at-which-i-see-the-new-mission-of-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Explore all 204 Jose Ortega y Gasset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "\"Natural\" man is always there, under the changeable historical man. We call him and he comes-a little sleepy, benumbed, without his lost form of instinctive hunter, but, after all, still alive. 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