--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Organisms by their design are not made to…" description: "\"Organisms by their design are not made to adapt too far.\" — Kevin Kelly" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/kevin-kelly-2418_adapt_organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-t_837316.png" --- # Organisms by their design are not made to adapt too far. ![“Organisms by their design are not made to adapt too far.” quote by Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/kevin-kelly-2418_adapt_organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-t_837316.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/kevin-kelly-2418_adapt_organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-t_837316.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/kevin-kelly-2418_adapt_organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-t_837316.png) > “Organisms by their design are not made to adapt too far.” [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Design limits adaptation; systems evolve within constraints, not boundlessly. **In simple terms:** Design sets limits on change. Key Takeaway Recognize constraints, innovate within them. Themes constraints design adaptation Mood analytical pragmatic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - technology development - business strategy - environmental policy - personal habits Key Concepts systems theory evolutionary biology Questions to Reflect On - What constraints can you turn into opportunities? - How do you identify when adaptation is necessary? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on limits may stifle creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adapt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adapt/) [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Design Adapt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design-adapt-612562/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) [Organisms Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms-design-612561/) [Too far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-far/) ## Related quotes > [Most organisms either adapt and become part of the system, or get wiped out. The only thing we have to adapt to the system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/most-organisms-either-adapt-and-become-part-of-the-system-or-get/) [George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/) > [Each organism's environment, for the most part, consists of other organisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/each-organism-s-environment-for-the-most-part-consists-of-other/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [The way that organizations and organisms anticipate the future is by taking signals from the past, most the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/the-way-that-organizations-and-organisms-anticipate-the-future-is-by/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [It has become evident that the primary lesson of the study of evolution is that all evolution is coevolution: every organism is evolving in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/it-has-become-evident-that-the-primary-lesson-of-the-study-of/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [The development of an organism ... may be considered as the execution of a 'developmental program' present in the fertilized egg. ... A central…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristid-lindenmayer/the-development-of-an-organism-may-be-considered-as-the-execution-of/) [Aristid Lindenmayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristid-lindenmayer/) > [All life pulsates in time to the Earth and our artificial fields cause abnormal reactions in all organisms... Increasing electropollution could set in motion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-o-becker/all-life-pulsates-in-time-to-the-earth-and-our-artificial-fields/) [Robert O. Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-o-becker/) > [Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - so that without the creating of music or poetry or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/add-to-this-cruelly-delicate-organism-the-overpowering-necessity-to/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“A dying organism is often observed to be capable of extraordinary endurance and strength. ... When any living organism is attacked, its whole function…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-dying-organism-is-often-observed-to-be-capable-of-extraordinary/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [When the physical organism breaks up, the soul survives. It then takes on another body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/when-the-physical-organism-breaks-up-the-soul-survives-it-then-takes/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [The general struggle for existence of animate beings is not a struggle for raw materials, these for organisms are air water & soil, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-boltzmann/the-general-struggle-for-existence-of-animate-beings-is-not-a/) [Ludwig Boltzmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-boltzmann/) > [A self that is very robust, that has many, many levels of organization, from simple to complex, and that functions as a sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/a-self-that-is-very-robust-that-has-many-many-levels-of-organization/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [I seem to be a brief light that flashes but once in all the aeons of time a rare, complicated, and all-too-delicate organism on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/i-seem-to-be-a-brief-light-that-flashes-but-once-in-all-the-aeons-of/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Living organisms are distinguished by their specified complexity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-orgel/living-organisms-are-distinguished-by-their-specified-complexity/) [Leslie Orgel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-orgel/) > [I am of course getting angry if biologists try to use the general concept 'chance' in order to explain phenomena which are so typical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-paul/i-am-of-course-getting-angry-if-biologists-try-to-use-the-general/) [Wolfgang Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-paul/) > [The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-living-environment-is-the-biosphere-the-thin-layer-around-the/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) ## More by Kevin Kelly > [We are reaching deep within ourselves to adjust the master knob.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/we-are-reaching-deep-within-ourselves-to-adjust-the-master-knob/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [This is the culmination of a lot of people's vision. I think this is just another step towards making Central Michigan football among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/this-is-the-culmination-of-a-lot-of-people-s-vision-i-think-this-is/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“When copies are free, you need to sell things that cannot be copied. Well, what can’t be copied? Trust, for instance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/when-copies-are-free-you-need-to-sell-things-that-cannot-be-copied/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“Existence, it seems, is chiefly maintenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/existence-it-seems-is-chiefly-maintenance/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“We have no certainty we’ll contact extraterrestrial beings from one of the billion earthlike planets in the sky in the next 200 years, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/we-have-no-certainty-we-ll-contact-extraterrestrial-beings-from-one/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [Changing things from the top down works when things are stable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/changing-things-from-the-top-down-works-when-things-are-stable/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [It's generally much easier to kill an organization than to change it substantially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/it-s-generally-much-easier-to-kill-an-organization-than-to-change-it/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [The only organization capable of unprejudiced growth, or unguided learning, is a network. All othertopologies limit what can happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/the-only-organization-capable-of-unprejudiced-growth-or-unguided/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [We have to get better at believing the impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/we-have-to-get-better-at-believing-the-impossible/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“Our most important mechanical inventions are not machines that do what humans do better, but machines that can do things we can’t do at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/our-most-important-mechanical-inventions-are-not-machines-that-do/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“In the universal library, no book will be an island. It’s all connected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/in-the-universal-library-no-book-will-be-an-island-it-s-all-connected/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [Singularity is the point at which "all the change in the last million years will be superseded by the change in the next five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/singularity-is-the-point-at-which-all-the-change-in-the-last-million/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [We tend to think of the mind of an organization residing in the CEO and the organization's top managers, perhaps with the help of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/we-tend-to-think-of-the-mind-of-an-organization-residing-in-the-ceo/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [The smallest thought could not exist unless the entire universe and the laws of physics were in some way encouraging it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/the-smallest-thought-could-not-exist-unless-the-entire-universe-and/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“From the days of Sumerian clay tablets until now, humans have “published” at least 310 million books, 1.4 billion articles and essays, 180 million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-until-now-humans-have/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) [Explore all 167 Kevin Kelly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) ## More Adapt quotes > [Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nolan-ryan/enjoying-success-requires-the-ability-to-adapt-only-by-being-open-to/) [Nolan Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nolan-ryan/) > [Ancelotti immediately understood me and put me in the right situation to adapt quickly. I was 18 and, at that age, it is difficult.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-verratti/ancelotti-immediately-understood-me-and-put-me-in-the-right-situation/) [Marco Verratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-verratti/) > [Just watching people's ability to adapt, especially young people's, inspires me to accept more in life instead of wishing things were different all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhea-seehorn/just-watching-people-s-ability-to-adapt-especially-young-people-s/) [Rhea Seehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhea-seehorn/) > [You always can improve and I think that's the beauty of international cricket, particularly test cricket, is playing all around the world against different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kane-williamson/you-always-can-improve-and-i-think-that-s-the-beauty-of-international/) [Kane Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kane-williamson/) > [It's fun to see how other artists adapt my work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-selznick/it-s-fun-to-see-how-other-artists-adapt-my-work/) [Brian Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-selznick/) > [Floods, droughts, and natural disasters are a fact of life for farmers, ranchers, and foresters. They have persevered in the past, and they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonny-perdue/floods-droughts-and-natural-disasters-are-a-fact-of-life-for-farmers/) [Sonny Perdue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonny-perdue/) > [A career is about learning to adapt yourself to the new environment and learning to sink or swim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-dutta/a-career-is-about-learning-to-adapt-yourself-to-the-new-environment/) [Lara Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-dutta/) > [I've learnt to adapt on the pitch and, when I think back, also in front of goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gervinho/i-ve-learnt-to-adapt-on-the-pitch-and-when-i-think-back-also-in-front/) [Gervinho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gervinho/) > [On my end, I am still surprised that many media organizations are unable to adapt to new media formats and, more importantly, new network…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/om-malik/on-my-end-i-am-still-surprised-that-many-media-organizations-are/) [Om Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/om-malik/) > [“The more in tune we are with nature and the more we actually observe our surroundings, the easier it is for us to adapt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-cassell-jr/the-more-in-tune-we-are-with-nature-and-the-more-we-actually-observe/) [Warren Cassell Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-cassell-jr/) > [There is a sort of theory that you should adapt bad books because they always make more successful films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hampton/there-is-a-sort-of-theory-that-you-should-adapt-bad-books-because/) [Christopher Hampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hampton/) > [It's strange to play outdoors, especially in the daytime. But we're figuring it out. The rules are different for festival shows - how you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dost/it-s-strange-to-play-outdoors-especially-in-the-daytime-but-we-re/) [Andrew Dost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dost/) > [Whatever role I get told to play, I just have to adapt to it and play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-iwobi/whatever-role-i-get-told-to-play-i-just-have-to-adapt-to-it-and-play/) [Alex Iwobi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-iwobi/) > [I'm able to mentally adapt to things very well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cole/i-m-able-to-mentally-adapt-to-things-very-well/) [Justin Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cole/) > [If you change and adapt your persona, you are seen as inauthentic; if you stay the angry young man, you fade from attention or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/if-you-change-and-adapt-your-persona-you-are-seen-as-inauthentic-if/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) [Browse all 767 Adapt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adapt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Organisms by their design are not made to adapt too far.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kevin Kelly" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-to-adapt-too-far/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adapt" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-to-adapt-too-far/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/kevin-kelly-2418_adapt_organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-t_837316.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/kevin-kelly-2418_adapt_organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-t_837316.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/kevin-kelly-2418_adapt_organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-t_837316.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Organisms by their design are not made to adapt too far.” — Kevin Kelly", "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": "Kevin Kelly", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Organisms by their design are not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-to-adapt-too-far/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/organisms-by-their-design-are-not-made-to-adapt-too-far/#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 } } ] } ```