--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We hit and we kept on hitting; we were…" description: "\"We hit and we kept on hitting; we were allowed to be what we were, frightened and vengeful — little animals, clawing at what we needed.\" — Justin Torres" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/justin-torres-26975_animal_we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-al_1106689.png" --- # We hit and we kept on hitting; we were allowed to be what… ![“We hit and we kept on hitting; we were allowed to be what we were, frightened and vengeful — little animals, clawing at what we needed.” quote by Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/justin-torres-26975_animal_we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-al_1106689.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/justin-torres-26975_animal_we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-al_1106689.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/justin-torres-26975_animal_we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-al_1106689.png) > “We hit and we kept on hitting; we were allowed to be what we were, frightened and vengeful — little animals, clawing at what we needed.” [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It describes a raw, animalistic response to fear and anger, highlighting how we often act on base instincts. **In simple terms:** Fear and anger can make us act like animals. Key Takeaway Recognize and transform primal reactions. Themes fear anger human nature Mood intense raw Type psychological literary When to use this quote - conflict - personal growth - stress management Key Concepts primal instincts emotional response Questions to Reflect On - What triggers your animalistic reactions? - How can you channel fear constructively? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize destructive behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Vengeful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vengeful/) ## Related quotes > [She just kept hitting me in the head with her fists, over, and over and over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gest/she-just-kept-hitting-me-in-the-head-with-her-fists-over-and-over-and/) [David Gest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gest/) > [“Yesterday I played a round of golf. I just kept hitting the ball in circles, but never getting it in the circles they call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/yesterday-i-played-a-round-of-golf-i-just-kept-hitting-the-ball-in/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [When I just came on tour, I was super aggressive but just kept hitting bumps because I didn't know how to do anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniil-medvedev/when-i-just-came-on-tour-i-was-super-aggressive-but-just-kept-hitting/) [Daniil Medvedev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniil-medvedev/) > [I also watched boxing all the time and Tuesday Night Fights on USA and just kept hitting my heavy back in the garage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbie-lawler/i-also-watched-boxing-all-the-time-and-tuesday-night-fights-on-usa/) [Robbie Lawler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robbie-lawler/) > [You ever wake up in the middle of the night because a couple of cats are clawing each other to death outside your window?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/you-ever-wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-because-a-couple-of-cats/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [“You want a sheet-clawing, back-arching, mind-blowing fuck, and I want to pound my cock into you until I’ve come my last drop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-day/you-want-a-sheet-clawing-back-arching-mind-blowing-fuck-and-i-want-to/) [Sylvia Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-day/) > [When I see people scratching and clawing towards ambition and greed, I wonder why they are doing it and for what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raveena-tandon/when-i-see-people-scratching-and-clawing-towards-ambition-and-greed-i/) [Raveena Tandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raveena-tandon/) > [Clawing... Slipping... Finger nails broken off, During the descent. Body weary, Heart broken, Mind lost, Soul, Falling away, Into Dust. To much... To many...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/clawing-slipping-finger-nails-broken-off-during-the-descent-body/) [Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/) > [“Instinct was clawing at him like an importuning dog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-galbraith/instinct-was-clawing-at-him-like-an-importuning-dog/) [Robert Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-galbraith/) > [“The noise was like, well, it was like a thousand vampire cats clawing on Plexiglas—it made their teeth hurt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/the-noise-was-like-well-it-was-like-a-thousand-vampire-cats-clawing/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [The backstabbing, the clawing, it's always there. It definitely comes up more when you're on TV a little more often.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-mccool/the-backstabbing-the-clawing-it-s-always-there-it-definitely-comes-up/) [Michelle McCool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-mccool/) > [“And the face you step on while clawing your way out of an ordinary life may be the last one you see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/per-hampton/and-the-face-you-step-on-while-clawing-your-way-out-of-an-ordinary/) Per Hampton > [“Gary nips my finger and starts clawing his way up my shoulder, hissing like an angry kettle. It's just not natural for something so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-smale/gary-nips-my-finger-and-starts-clawing-his-way-up-my-shoulder-hissing/) [Holly Smale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-smale/) > [The Revelations is an amazing, rich material that is full of stories about angels and angels being sent down to Earth to wipe out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-collins/the-revelations-is-an-amazing-rich-material-that-is-full-of-stories/) [Misha Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-collins/) > [Thunder on! Stride on! Democracy. Strike with vengeful stroke!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/thunder-on-stride-on-democracy-strike-with-vengeful-stroke/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) ## More by Justin Torres > [Sometimes I would be very upset because my memories are very murky from my childhood, but there are certain emotional memories or emotional truths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/sometimes-i-would-be-very-upset-because-my-memories-are-very-murky/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [“Always more, always hungrily scratching for more. But there were times, quiet moments, when our mother was sleeping, when she hadn’t slept in two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/always-more-always-hungrily-scratching-for-more-but-there-were-times/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [Shame doesn't exist in the animal kingdom. It's a human conception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/shame-doesn-t-exist-in-the-animal-kingdom-it-s-a-human-conception/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [“I’m an adult,” the boy says. “I got rights.” “Everybody’s got rights. A man tied to a bed got rights. A man down in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/i-m-an-adult-the-boy-says-i-got-rights-everybody-s-got-rights-a-man/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [As you become an adult, shame gets introduced and reintroduced constantly to you. So where something that, to a child, just is what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/as-you-become-an-adult-shame-gets-introduced-and-reintroduced/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [I don't think that any family has a function. I just think that a family is. It just exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/i-don-t-think-that-any-family-has-a-function-i-just-think-that-a/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [Animals don't think in terms of victims and villains, or good and bad, or evil, or shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/animals-don-t-think-in-terms-of-victims-and-villains-or-good-and-bad/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [“All that pent up longing,” he says, “all that desire to flail and flap around. Them wings have needs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/all-that-pent-up-longing-he-says-all-that-desire-to-flail-and-flap/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [“Each was radiant, gorgeous. How they posed for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/each-was-radiant-gorgeous-how-they-posed-for-me/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [This is your heritage,' he said, as if from this dance we could know about his own childhood, about the flavor and grit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/this-is-your-heritage-he-said-as-if-from-this-dance-we-could-know/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [“WE ALL THREE sat at the kitchen table in our raincoats, and Joel smashed tomatoes with a small rubber mallet. We had seen it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/we-all-three-sat-at-the-kitchen-table-in-our-raincoats-and-joel/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [“They weren't scared, or dispossessed, or fragile. They were possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/they-weren-t-scared-or-dispossessed-or-fragile-they-were-possible/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [What we gotta do is, we gotta figure out a way to reverse gravity, so that we all fall upward, through the clouds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/what-we-gotta-do-is-we-gotta-figure-out-a-way-to-reverse-gravity-so/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [I totally bristle against words like "dysfunction" or "abuse."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/i-totally-bristle-against-words-like-dysfunction-or-abuse/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) > [“Hours passed. A man came by twice and poked his head into my theater and looked at me questioningly. The third time, he came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/hours-passed-a-man-came-by-twice-and-poked-his-head-into-my-theater/) [Justin Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) [Explore all 21 Justin Torres quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/) ## 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. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [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/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. 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 hit and we kept on hitting; we were allowed to be what we were, frightened and vengeful — little animals, clawing at what we needed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Justin Torres" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-allowed-to-be-what-we-were/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-allowed-to-be-what-we-were/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/justin-torres-26975_animal_we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-al_1106689.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/justin-torres-26975_animal_we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-al_1106689.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/justin-torres-26975_animal_we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-al_1106689.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We hit and we kept on hitting; we were allowed to be what we were, frightened and vengeful — little animals…” — Justin Torres", "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": "Justin Torres", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-torres/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We hit and we kept on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-allowed-to-be-what-we-were/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-torres/we-hit-and-we-kept-on-hitting-we-were-allowed-to-be-what-we-were/#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 } } ] } ```