--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We all go through life as puzzled…" description: "\"“We all go through life as puzzled monkeys. The minute we think we're any more than that, we've made a grave mistake. We're just trying to gain some me..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/nate-jordon-265509_failure_we-all-go-through-life-as-puzzled-monkey_2965559.jpg" --- # We all go through life as puzzled monkeys. The minute we… ![“We all go through life as puzzled monkeys. The minute we think we're any more than that, we've made a grave mistake. We're just trying to gain some meaning of it all, some understanding. The only thing we can do is buy the ticket, take the ride. And offer our barbaric yawps to the world...” quote by Nate Jordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/nate-jordon-265509_failure_we-all-go-through-life-as-puzzled-monkey_2965559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/nate-jordon-265509_failure_we-all-go-through-life-as-puzzled-monkey_2965559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/nate-jordon-265509_failure_we-all-go-through-life-as-puzzled-monkey_2965559.jpg) > ““We all go through life as puzzled monkeys. The minute we think we're any more than that, we've made a grave mistake. We're just trying to gain some meaning of it all, some understanding. The only thing we can do is buy the ticket, take the ride. And offer our barbaric yawps to the world...”” Nate Jordon ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans cling to meaning; accepting life’s mystery and embracing the journey is key. **In simple terms:** Embrace life’s mystery, enjoy the ride. Key Takeaway Live fully without over‑analysis. Themes meaning existence humor acceptance journey Mood playful philosophical Type Failure:0 Life:1 Money:0 Monkeys:1 Understanding Thing:0 Puzzled Monkeys:1 Monkeys Minute:0 Life Puzzled:0 When to use this quote - travel - creative projects - personal growth Key Concepts philosophy psychology existentialism literature Questions to Reflect On - How does humor help you face existential questions? - What “ticket” will you buy for your life’s ride? A Different Perspective Risk of nihilism if misread. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Monkeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkeys/) ## Related quotes > [“Sitting high above the city, Father Time realized that knowing something and understanding it were not the same thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/sitting-high-above-the-city-father-time-realized-that-knowing/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“The greatest understanding of a thing is when you can't reduce it any further”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/the-greatest-understanding-of-a-thing-is-when-you-can-t-reduce-it-any/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“ God's will. How many times have I heard someone declare their understanding of this thing I find so indefinable?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-carson/god-s-will-how-many-times-have-i-heard-someone-declare-their/) [Rae Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-carson/) > [To look wise is quite as good as understanding a thing, and very much easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-look-wise-is-quite-as-good-as-understanding-a-thing-and-very-much/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The thing itself is one; the images are many. What leads to a perceptive understanding of the thing is not the focus on one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-steiner/the-thing-itself-is-one-the-images-are-many-what-leads-to-a/) [Rudolf Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-steiner/) > [Art is not some sort of guideline for understanding. It's a thing unto itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrey-zvyagintsev/art-is-not-some-sort-of-guideline-for-understanding-it-s-a-thing-unto/) [Andrey Zvyagintsev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrey-zvyagintsev/) > [“But understanding a thing and accepting it are so very different things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-zhang/but-understanding-a-thing-and-accepting-it-are-so-very-different/) [Kat Zhang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-zhang/) > [It's only when I say that everything is incomprehensible that I come as close as possible to understanding the only thing it is given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/it-s-only-when-i-say-that-everything-is-incomprehensible-that-i-come/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [Knowing something and understanding it were not the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/knowing-something-and-understanding-it-were-not-the-same-thing/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“Some people lives the life of having everything without understanding a thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manith-j/some-people-lives-the-life-of-having-everything-without-understanding/) Manith J > [Failure is less attributable to either insufficiency of means or impatience of labours than to a confused understanding of the thing actually to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/failure-is-less-attributable-to-either-insufficiency-of-means-or/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“Blind thinking… could make me pretend I was being true to myself when really I was only being true to an infantile fear and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-milner/blind-thinking-could-make-me-pretend-i-was-being-true-to-myself-when/) [Marion Milner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-milner/) > [The birds did not understand a single word of what he was saying, but that made no matter, for they put their heads on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-birds-did-not-understand-a-single-word-of-what-he-was-saying-but/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/people-who-do-not-understand-themselves-have-a-craving-for/) [Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. 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(p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. 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