--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are fashioned not by our genes, but by…" description: "\"We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment - by the family and socio-historic conditions in which we evolve.\" — Michel Onfray" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/michel-onfray-17240_conditions_we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by_1130903.jpg" --- # We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment… ![“We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment - by the family and socio-historic conditions in which we evolve.” quote by Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/michel-onfray-17240_conditions_we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by_1130903.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/michel-onfray-17240_conditions_we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by_1130903.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/michel-onfray-17240_conditions_we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by_1130903.jpg) > “We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment - by the family and socio-historic conditions in which we evolve.” [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human behavior is shaped more by surroundings and upbringing than by DNA alone. **In simple terms:** Environment shapes us more than genes. Key Takeaway Focus on nurturing positive environments. Themes environment upbringing determinism Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - parenting - education policy - community development - urban planning Key Concepts social conditioning philosophy of existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance nature and nurture? - What environmental changes most improve outcomes? A Different Perspective Ignores genetic predispositions that also influence behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) ## Related quotes > [Any life is lived in a particular time and place. Every life is impacted by the family's socio-economic circumstances, and, in later life, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/any-life-is-lived-in-a-particular-time-and-place-every-life-is/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [People need to realize that their thoughts are more primary than their genes, because the environment, which is influenced by our thoughts, controls the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-h-lipton/people-need-to-realize-that-their-thoughts-are-more-primary-than/) [Bruce H. Lipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-h-lipton/) > [Growing up in rural Louisiana, the ecosystem around our home wove harmoniously into our family and into our daily life. Every life lesson that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-somerhalder/growing-up-in-rural-louisiana-the-ecosystem-around-our-home-wove/) [Ian Somerhalder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-somerhalder/) > [“The Long Shadow implicates family resources and early constraints with regard to socioeconomic standing in young adulthood. The internal environment of the family is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/the-long-shadow-implicates-family-resources-and-early-constraints/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [Every life lesson that trickled its way into my being came from a mutually respectful relationship between the environment and my family. We were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-somerhalder/every-life-lesson-that-trickled-its-way-into-my-being-came-from-a/) [Ian Somerhalder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-somerhalder/) > [“Although all the characteristics of living things are dependent on both genetic and environmental factors, the differences between two individuals in their attributes may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-alcock/although-all-the-characteristics-of-living-things-are-dependent-on/) John Alcock > [A person's health isn't generally a reflection of genes, but how their environment is influencing them. Genes are the direct cause of less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lipton/a-person-s-health-isn-t-generally-a-reflection-of-genes-but-how-their/) [Bruce Lipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lipton/) > [Our experience in fooling around with the genes of mice has taught us that many of the traits that interest us are not definite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-wolf/our-experience-in-fooling-around-with-the-genes-of-mice-has-taught-us/) [Gary Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-wolf/) > [“In the 1970s Allan Wilson and Mary-Claire King at Berkeley correctly theorized that the evolution of genes is less important than the evolution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-sapolsky/in-the-1970s-allan-wilson-and-mary-claire-king-at-berkeley-correctly/) [Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-sapolsky/) > [“Epigenetics, Waddington wrote, concerns "the interaction of genes with their environment (...) that brings their phenotype into being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/epigenetics-waddington-wrote-concerns-the-interaction-of-genes-with/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“The point to remember is that the issue is not nature versus nurture. It is the balance between nature and nurture. Genes do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-j-ratey/the-point-to-remember-is-that-the-issue-is-not-nature-versus-nurture/) [John J. Ratey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-j-ratey/) > [“Every genetic “illness” is a mismatch between an organism’s genome and its environment. In some cases, the appropriate medical intervention to mitigate a disease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddhartha-mukherjee/every-genetic-illness-is-a-mismatch-between-an-organism-s-genome-and/) [Siddhartha Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddhartha-mukherjee/) > [“as Gilbert Gottlieb, an eminent neuroscientist, put it, not only do genes and environment cooperate as we develop, but genes require input from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-s-dweck/as-gilbert-gottlieb-an-eminent-neuroscientist-put-it-not-only-do/) [Carol S. Dweck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-s-dweck/) > [Yes, genes are important for understanding our behavior. Incredibly important - after all, they code for every protein pertinent to brain function, endocrinology, etc.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/yes-genes-are-important-for-understanding-our-behavior-incredibly/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [“Study a gene in only one environment and, by definition, you’ve eliminated the ability to see if it works differently in other environments (in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-sapolsky/study-a-gene-in-only-one-environment-and-by-definition-you-ve/) [Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-sapolsky/) ## More by Michel Onfray > [Death is a false fear. When it is here, you won't be. When it's not, you are here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/death-is-a-false-fear-when-it-is-here-you-won-t-be-when-it-s-not-you/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [Philosophy is best practised by people in general and not by philosophers alone. 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Rather than trust their theological hocus-pocus I prefer to draw on alternatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-persist-in-preferring-philosophers-to-rabbis-priests-imams/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [We can no more tolerate neutrality and benevolence toward every conceivable form of discourse, including that of magical thinking, than we can lump together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/we-can-no-more-tolerate-neutrality-and-benevolence-toward-every/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [I found it amazing people can think that art must be connected to religion. Religion may give art themes, but there would still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-found-it-amazing-people-can-think-that-art-must-be-connected-to/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [Religion is like magic. It is all about tricks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/religion-is-like-magic-it-is-all-about-tricks/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [“I do not despise believers. I find them neither ridiculous nor pathetic, but I lose all hope when I see that they prefer the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-do-not-despise-believers-i-find-them-neither-ridiculous-nor/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [Camus believed in dialogue and diplomacy, and enlisted his work as a philosopher to the need to find nonviolent solutions, whereas Sartre called for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/camus-believed-in-dialogue-and-diplomacy-and-enlisted-his-work-as-a/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [God is a fiction invented by people so they do not have to face the reality of their condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/god-is-a-fiction-invented-by-people-so-they-do-not-have-to-face-the/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [It's hard for me to imagine a philosopher disconnected from the world, indifferent to the cares of his country, unmoved by poverty, unemployment: I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/it-s-hard-for-me-to-imagine-a-philosopher-disconnected-from-the-world/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [I have a big problem with Islam.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/i-have-a-big-problem-with-islam/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [The three monotheism share a series of identical forms of aversion: hatred of reason and intelligence; hatred of freedom; hatred of all books in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/the-three-monotheism-share-a-series-of-identical-forms-of-aversion/) [Michel Onfray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/) > [By aiming for paradise, we lose sight of earth. 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They take the lead and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/changes-in-human-conditions-are-brought-about-by-the-pioneering-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) Browse all 4,249 Conditions quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment - by the family and socio-historic conditions in which we evolve.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel Onfray" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by-our-environment-by-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conditions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by-our-environment-by-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/michel-onfray-17240_conditions_we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by_1130903.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/michel-onfray-17240_conditions_we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by_1130903.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/michel-onfray-17240_conditions_we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by_1130903.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are fashioned not by our genes, but by our environment - by the family and socio-historic conditions in…” — Michel Onfray", "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": "Michel Onfray", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-onfray/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are fashioned not by our...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by-our-environment-by-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-onfray/we-are-fashioned-not-by-our-genes-but-by-our-environment-by-the/#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 } } ] } ```