--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ants are so much like human beings as to…" description: "\"Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c0/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to_512131.jpg" --- # Ants are so much like human beings as to be an… ![“Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c0/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to_512131.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c0/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to_512131.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c0/lewis-thomas-2299_ants_ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to_512131.jpg) > “Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human societies mirror ant colonies in organization, labor division, and communication, yet lack their simplicity. **In simple terms:** Humans are like ants, but more complex. Key Takeaway Learn from ant efficiency. Themes biology society comparison Mood analytical curious Type scientific observational When to use this quote - urban planning - team management - education systems - environmental policy Key Concepts social structure cooperation labor communication technology Questions to Reflect On - What can we adopt from ant behavior? - Where do human societies differ fundamentally? A Different Perspective Ants lack consciousness and culture. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) [Ants Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants-like-3438765/) [Armies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armies/) [Beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beings/) [Capture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capture/) [Child labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-labor/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Embarrassment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embarrassment/) [Enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/information/) [Labour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labour/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into wars, use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to-be-an-embarrassment-they-2/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrasment...They do everything but watch television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/ants-are-so-much-like-human-beings-as-to-be-an-embarrasment-they-do/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Ants are more like the parts of an animal than entities on their own. They are mobile cells, circulating through a dense connective tissue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/ants-are-more-like-the-parts-of-an-animal-than-entities-on-their-own/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Ants, like human beings, can create civilizations without the use of reason.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/ants-like-human-beings-can-create-civilizations-without-the-use-of/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [You wouldn't consider all the bipeds you pass on the street human beings simply because they walk upright and carry their young in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/you-wouldn-t-consider-all-the-bipeds-you-pass-on-the-street-human/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [It is only when you watch the dense mass of thousands of ants, crowded together around the Hill, blackening the ground, that you begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-only-when-you-watch-the-dense-mass-of-thousands-of-ants-crowded/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I will confess that I have no more sense of what goes on in the mind of mankind than I have for the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-will-confess-that-i-have-no-more-sense-of-what-goes-on-in-the-mind/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I won't compare ants and people, but ants give us a useful model of how single members of a community can become so organized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-won-t-compare-ants-and-people-but-ants-give-us-a-useful-model-of/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Something that comes to us, some gym shoe that comes to us as a result of child labor from a brutal dictatorship, where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/something-that-comes-to-us-some-gym-shoe-that-comes-to-us-as-a-result/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“I am a citizen of this country,” I declare, “and Mr. Mayor, tonight I will be a citizen of this city when I put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-ash/i-am-a-citizen-of-this-country-i-declare-and-mr-mayor-tonight-i-will/) [Jerry Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-ash/) > [Newt Gingrich wants to repeal child labor laws. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the man that we need to lead us into the 18th…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/newt-gingrich-wants-to-repeal-child-labor-laws-ladies-and-gentlemen/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [Yes to trade, but trade that ensures that these other countries that trade with us aren't engaging in child labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/yes-to-trade-but-trade-that-ensures-that-these-other-countries-that/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“That’s got to stop,” says I. “The idea of any blood-thirsty pirate (Mexican President Diaz) sitting on a throne and reaching across the border…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-ash/that-s-got-to-stop-says-i-the-idea-of-any-blood-thirsty-pirate/) [Jerry Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-ash/) > [“Go home now,” says I. “Keep away from the saloons. Save your money. You are going to need it.” “What are we going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-ash/go-home-now-says-i-keep-away-from-the-saloons-save-your-money-you-are/) [Jerry Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-ash/) > [For my whole life I have dedicated myself to those who have been subjected to injustice. I've conducted investigations and written in newspapers about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/for-my-whole-life-i-have-dedicated-myself-to-those-who-have-been/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Having long suspected that there was something alive in there, running the place, separate from everything else, absolutely individual and independent, we've celebrated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/having-long-suspected-that-there-was-something-alive-in-there-running/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Ants quotes > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [Great God of the Ants, thou hast granted victory to thy servants. I appoint thee honorary Colonel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/great-god-of-the-ants-thou-hast-granted-victory-to-thy-servants-i/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [People are like ants: Just a few of them give all the orders. And most of them spend their lives getting squashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-are-like-ants-just-a-few-of-them-give-all-the-orders-and-most/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There's a good case to be made that having fun is a key evolutionary advantage right next to opposable thumbs in terms of importance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raph-koster/there-s-a-good-case-to-be-made-that-having-fun-is-a-key-evolutionary/) [Raph Koster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raph-koster/) > [“THE FIGHTERS ARE TINY. INSECTS, REALLY. BUT ANTS CAN SLAY AN ELEPHANT, IF THERE ARE ENOUGH OF THEM. ESPECIALLY ANTS ARMED WITH HIGH-YIELD EXPLOSIVES…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amie-kaufman/the-fighters-are-tiny-insects-really-but-ants-can-slay-an-elephant-if/) [Amie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amie-kaufman/) > [We know of no behavior in ants or any other social insects that can be construed as play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-holldobler/we-know-of-no-behavior-in-ants-or-any-other-social-insects-that-can/) [Bert Holldobler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-holldobler/) > [Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/oh-ants-my-sisters-good-old-honeydew-seekers-from-close-up-you-are/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Albert and I would spend hours and hours looking at them. 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If you do not squash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-someone-criticizes-or-disagrees-with-you-a-small-ant-of-hatred/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“Lies are like ants; there's never just one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-ash/lies-are-like-ants-there-s-never-just-one/) [Julia Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-ash/) > [There's a scientific hypothesis that every person's name is a primary suggestive command that contains the entire script of their life in highly concentrated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-pelevin/there-s-a-scientific-hypothesis-that-every-person-s-name-is-a-primary/) [Victor Pelevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-pelevin/) > [When I was little, I would burn ants with a magnifying glass. But now that I'm older, I'm more of a cat guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/when-i-was-little-i-would-burn-ants-with-a-magnifying-glass-but-now/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [If ants were the size of humans, they would be able to run twice as fast as a Lamborghini.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-ants-were-the-size-of-humans-they-would-be-able-to-run-twice-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 499 Ants quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, exchange information ceaselessly. 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