--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And there is no living creature, though…" description: "\"And there is no living creature, though the whims of eons had put its eyes on boggling stalks and clamped it in a carapace, diminished it to a pinpoint..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/marilynne-robinson-602_animals_and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-t_2308066.jpg" --- # And there is no living creature, though the whims of eons… ![“And there is no living creature, though the whims of eons had put its eyes on boggling stalks and clamped it in a carapace, diminished it to a pinpoint and given it a taste for mud and stuck it down a well or hid it under a stone, but that creature will live on if it can.” quote by Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/marilynne-robinson-602_animals_and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-t_2308066.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/marilynne-robinson-602_animals_and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-t_2308066.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/marilynne-robinson-602_animals_and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-t_2308066.jpg) > “And there is no living creature, though the whims of eons had put its eyes on boggling stalks and clamped it in a carapace, diminished it to a pinpoint and given it a taste for mud and stuck it down a well or hid it under a stone, but that creature will live on if it can.” [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on the fragile existence of a creature reduced to a tiny, mud‑loving form, yet capable of survival if it endures. **In simple terms:** A tiny creature can survive despite being reduced to a simple, mud‑loving form. Key Takeaway Endure despite reduction. Themes survival resilience nature Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - environmental study - biology research - philosophical reflection - conservation work Key Concepts existentialism adaptation fragility Questions to Reflect On - What conditions enable survival despite extreme reduction? - How does resilience manifest in seemingly insignificant beings? A Different Perspective Survival depends on more than physical size or environment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-creatures/) [Stalking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stalking/) ## Related quotes > [Although I can't stop all cruelty to living creatures on the planet, I can be kinder to every living creature in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/river-phoenix/although-i-can-t-stop-all-cruelty-to-living-creatures-on-the-planet-i/) [River Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/river-phoenix/) > [Wherever I found a living creature, there I found the will to power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/wherever-i-found-a-living-creature-there-i-found-the-will-to-power/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-bible-is-no-mere-book-but-a-living-creature-with-a-power-that/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. I see the animal not only as a target, but as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bear/i-have-always-tempered-my-killing-with-respect-for-the-game-pursued-i/) [Fred Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bear/) > [Each living creature is said to be alive and to be the same individual - as for example someone is said to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-living-creature-is-said-to-be-alive-and-to-be-the-same-2/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Every living creature that comes into the world has something allotted him to perform; therefore, he should not stand an idle spectator of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-trimmer/every-living-creature-that-comes-into-the-world-has-something/) Sarah Trimmer > [Every living creature commences its existence under a form different from, and simpler than, that which it eventually attains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/every-living-creature-commences-its-existence-under-a-form-different/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [It's sad. That's a living creature. We don't have the right to take their life away for fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-electra/it-s-sad-that-s-a-living-creature-we-don-t-have-the-right-to-take/) [Carmen Electra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-electra/) > [The weakest living creature, by concentrating his powers on a single object, can accomplish good results while the strongest, by dispersing his effort over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/the-weakest-living-creature-by-concentrating-his-powers-on-a-single/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) > [See the genius in everyone you encounter. Just as the mountain cannot crack a nut though it can carry a forest on its back,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/see-the-genius-in-everyone-you-encounter-just-as-the-mountain-cannot/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Some things which are remote in space and time from a living creature, especially a human creature, may form his environment even more truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/some-things-which-are-remote-in-space-and-time-from-a-living-creature/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The true test of anyone's worth as a living creature is how much he can utilize what he has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-szandor-lavey/the-true-test-of-anyone-s-worth-as-a-living-creature-is-how-much-he/) [Anton Szandor LaVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-szandor-lavey/) > [Chimpanzees, more than any other living creature, have helped us to understand that there is no sharp line between humans and the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/chimpanzees-more-than-any-other-living-creature-have-helped-us-to/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [Every living creature on the earth is special. You want to be the one that puts an end to one of them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/every-living-creature-on-the-earth-is-special-you-want-to-be-the-one/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Has the world become so topsy-turvy that a living creature, whom the gift of reason makes divine, believes that his glory lies solely in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/has-the-world-become-so-topsy-turvy-that-a-living-creature-whom-the/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) ## More by Marilynne Robinson > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“I think sometimes there might be an advantage in making people aware how worn and stale these old transgressions are. It might take some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-think-sometimes-there-might-be-an-advantage-in-making-people-aware/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [There are two occasions when the sacred beauty of Creation becomes dazzlingly apparent, and they occur together. One is when we feel our mortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/there-are-two-occasions-when-the-sacred-beauty-of-creation-becomes/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [My Calvinism persuades me that we are open to God, in the sense that we are not delimited, not organisms with fixed attributes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-calvinism-persuades-me-that-we-are-open-to-god-in-the-sense-that/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/you-can-know-a-thing-to-death-and-be-for-all-purposes-completely/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. In general I like to listen to hymns and liturgical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-listen-to-bach-a-great-deal-in-general-i-like-to-listen-to-hymns/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Every writer I know, when asked how to become a writer, responds with one word:Read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/every-writer-i-know-when-asked-how-to-become-a-writer-responds-with/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Faith for her was habit and family loyalty, a reverence for the Bible which was also literary, admiration for her mother and father. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/faith-for-her-was-habit-and-family-loyalty-a-reverence-for-the-bible/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Prayer is a discipline in truthfulness, in honesty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/prayer-is-a-discipline-in-truthfulness-in-honesty/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’ There are pleasures to be found where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/the-full-soul-loatheth-an-honeycomb-but-to-the-hungry-soul-every/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I sometimes am discouraged by what seems to be a sort of conventional disparagement of humankind. I think often people feel that they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-sometimes-am-discouraged-by-what-seems-to-be-a-sort-of-conventional/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Now that I look back, it seems to me that in all that deep darkness a miracle was preparing. So I am right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/now-that-i-look-back-it-seems-to-me-that-in-all-that-deep-darkness-a/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“My grandfather once told her if you couldn't read with cold feet, there wouldn't be a literate soul in the state of Maine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-grandfather-once-told-her-if-you-couldn-t-read-with-cold-feet/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Cranky old Leviticus gave us—gave Christ—not only “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” but also the rather forgotten “Thou shalt love the stranger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/cranky-old-leviticus-gave-us-gave-christ-not-only-thou-shalt-love-thy/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Explore all 450 Marilynne Robinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## More Animals 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 > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And there is no living creature, though the whims of eons had put its eyes on boggling stalks and clamped it in a carapace, diminished it to a pinpoint and given it a taste for mud and stuck it down a well or hid it under a stone, but that creature will live on if it can.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marilynne Robinson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-the-whims-of-eons-had-put-its/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-the-whims-of-eons-had-put-its/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/marilynne-robinson-602_animals_and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-t_2308066.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/marilynne-robinson-602_animals_and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-t_2308066.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/marilynne-robinson-602_animals_and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-t_2308066.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And there is no living creature, though the whims of eons had put its eyes on boggling stalks and clamped it…” — Marilynne Robinson", "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": "Marilynne Robinson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "And there is no living creature,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-the-whims-of-eons-had-put-its/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/and-there-is-no-living-creature-though-the-whims-of-eons-had-put-its/#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 } } ] } ```