--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am not nearly so interested in what…" description: "\"I am not nearly so interested in what monkey man was derived from as I am in what kind of monkey he is to become.\" — Loren Eiseley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/loren-eiseley-3848_kind_i-am-not-nearly-so-interested-in-what-mo_1120062.png" --- # I am not nearly so interested in what monkey man was… ![“I am not nearly so interested in what monkey man was derived from as I am in what kind of monkey he is to become.” quote by Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/loren-eiseley-3848_kind_i-am-not-nearly-so-interested-in-what-mo_1120062.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/loren-eiseley-3848_kind_i-am-not-nearly-so-interested-in-what-mo_1120062.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/loren-eiseley-3848_kind_i-am-not-nearly-so-interested-in-what-mo_1120062.png) > “I am not nearly so interested in what monkey man was derived from as I am in what kind of monkey he is to become.” [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He focuses on the potential future identity of humanity rather than its origins. **In simple terms:** Future identity matters more than origins. Key Takeaway Consider how present choices shape future selves. Themes identity future human nature Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - education - career planning - social change Key Concepts evolution potential anthropology Questions to Reflect On - What kind of person do you want to become? - How does focusing on future shape present actions? A Different Perspective Neglecting past lessons can lead to repeating mistakes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Interested Monkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interested-monkey-3026452/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Kind Monkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind-monkey-3026454/) [Man Derived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-derived-3026453/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mindfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mindfulness/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Monkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkey/) [Monkey Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkey-man-2922712/) [Monkeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkeys/) ## Related quotes > [“If monkey became a man, then a man can become a hero.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/if-monkey-became-a-man-then-a-man-can-become-a-hero/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [The most accomplished monkey cannot draw a monkey, this only man can do; just as it is also only man who regards his ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-christoph-lichtenberg/the-most-accomplished-monkey-cannot-draw-a-monkey-this-only-man-can/) [Georg Christoph Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-christoph-lichtenberg/) > [The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-surest-way-to-make-a-monkey-of-a-man-is-to-quote-him/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [God Schmod, I want my Monkey man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bart-simpson/god-schmod-i-want-my-monkey-man/) [Bart Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bart-simpson/) > [I am just a monkey man, I'm glad you are a monkey woman, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-rolling-stones/i-am-just-a-monkey-man-i-m-glad-you-are-a-monkey-woman-too/) [The Rolling Stones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-rolling-stones/) > [“Any concentration of the will displaces life and gives it bias in motion. Reality, he believed, was always trying to copy the imagination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/any-concentration-of-the-will-displaces-life-and-gives-it-bias-in/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [We are creatures of information and the imagination. The monkey we are already beginning to transform and shed. We don't look like the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-creatures-of-information-and-the-imagination-the-monkey-we-are/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If money grew on trees... girls would date monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/if-money-grew-on-trees-girls-would-date-monkeys/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [I don't mind if, according to the Law of Evolution, my grand grand grand etc. father is a monkey,but I do mind if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/i-don-t-mind-if-according-to-the-law-of-evolution-my-grand-grand/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Well, there's no monkey on my back,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-clijsters/well-there-s-no-monkey-on-my-back/) [Kim Clijsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-clijsters/) > [A monkey was the President, though maybe not the first. And there was peace and harmony throughout the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-t-hall/a-monkey-was-the-president-though-maybe-not-the-first-and-there-was/) [Tom T. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-t-hall/) > [My dream pet? I like a couple of them, man: monkey, I love dogs. See, tigers, I don't know - I can't be playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/french-montana/my-dream-pet-i-like-a-couple-of-them-man-monkey-i-love-dogs-see/) [French Montana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/french-montana/) > [The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of its behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stilwell/the-higher-a-monkey-climbs-the-more-you-see-of-its-behind/) [Joseph Stilwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stilwell/) > [But then, after all, we are all alike, for we are all derived from the monkey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/but-then-after-all-we-are-all-alike-for-we-are-all-derived-from-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Monkeys who very sensibly refrain from speech, lest they should be set to earn their livings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/monkeys-who-very-sensibly-refrain-from-speech-lest-they-should-be-set/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) ## More by Loren Eiseley > [“Taking a final pleasure in what the wind can neither proclaim nor destroy, I am a student of nightfall, I claim no other profession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/taking-a-final-pleasure-in-what-the-wind-can-neither-proclaim-nor/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its perfect image, for it has no perfect image except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/we-are-one-of-many-appearances-of-the-thing-called-life-we-are-not/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Perhaps a creature of so much ingenuity and deep memory is almost bound to grow alienated from his world, his fellows, and the objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/perhaps-a-creature-of-so-much-ingenuity-and-deep-memory-is-almost/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“The best way to be resurrected is to be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-best-way-to-be-resurrected-is-to-be-forgotten/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-that-is-the-first-principle-of/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [It is frequently the tragedy of the great artist, as it is of the great scientist, that he frightens the ordinary man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/it-is-frequently-the-tragedy-of-the-great-artist-as-it-is-of-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/every-time-we-walk-along-a-beach-some-ancient-urge-disturbs-us-so/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The future is neither ahead nor behind, on one side or another. Nor is it dark or light. It is contained within ourselves; its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-future-is-neither-ahead-nor-behind-on-one-side-or-another-nor-is/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Out of the choked Devonian waters emerged sight and sound and the music that rolls invisible through the composer's brain. They are there still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/out-of-the-choked-devonian-waters-emerged-sight-and-sound-and-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [One could not pluck a flower without troubling a star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/one-could-not-pluck-a-flower-without-troubling-a-star/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“I once saw, on a flower pot in my own living room, the efforts of a field mouse to build a remembered field. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/i-once-saw-on-a-flower-pot-in-my-own-living-room-the-efforts-of-a/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Lights come and go in the night sky. Men, troubled at last by the things they build, may toss in their sleep and dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/lights-come-and-go-in-the-night-sky-men-troubled-at-last-by-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The secret, if one may paraphrase a savage vocabulary, lies in the egg of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-secret-if-one-may-paraphrase-a-savage-vocabulary-lies-in-the-egg/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Without the gift of flowers and the infinite diversity of their fruits, man and bird, if they had continued to exist at all, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/without-the-gift-of-flowers-and-the-infinite-diversity-of-their/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“Black magic, the magic of the primeval chaos, blots out or transmogrifies the true form of things. At the stroke of twelve the princess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/black-magic-the-magic-of-the-primeval-chaos-blots-out-or/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) [Explore all 121 Loren Eiseley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## More Kind quotes > [Money is the kind of instrument which is very speedily produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/money-is-the-kind-of-instrument-which-is-very-speedily-produced/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [Since I worked with Danny Boyle before on Slumdog Millionaire, we have great success and everything. So, when I first got the script and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/since-i-worked-with-danny-boyle-before-on-slumdog-millionaire-we-have/) [A. R. 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Sometimes you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-always-step-on-the-plane-with-my-right-foot-and-touch-the-outside/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) > [Every time I finish a song... most of the time it's in my own head, like this sounds too much like a Townes Van…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/every-time-i-finish-a-song-most-of-the-time-it-s-in-my-own-head-like/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [The bigger the canvas, the better I do. I'm not so good at understated, kitchen-sink kinds of parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/the-bigger-the-canvas-the-better-i-do-i-m-not-so-good-at-understated/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You're getting into some kind of shape, cop." Aw, come on, now." Butch grinned. 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