--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We would never have scales, feathers, or…" description: "\"We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we didn't have teeth in the first place.\" — Neil Shubin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/neil-shubin-14335_breasts_we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-b_2459932.png" --- # We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we… ![“We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we didn't have teeth in the first place.” quote by Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/neil-shubin-14335_breasts_we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-b_2459932.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/neil-shubin-14335_breasts_we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-b_2459932.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/neil-shubin-14335_breasts_we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-b_2459932.png) > “We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we didn't have teeth in the first place.” [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Evolution repurposes existing structures, leading to unexpected traits. **In simple terms:** Old parts become new functions over time. Key Takeaway Embrace adaptability and reuse. Themes evolution adaptation innovation Mood curious inquisitive Type scientific educational When to use this quote - medical research - engineering design - education curricula Key Concepts biology comparative anatomy science communication Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance reuse with invention? - What are limits of repurposing? A Different Perspective Reuse may limit novel solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breasts/) [Breasts Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breasts-didn-644259/) [Didn Teeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didn-teeth-644258/) [Feathers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feathers/) [Feathers Breasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feathers-breasts-644260/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Scales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales/) [Scales Feathers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales-feathers-644261/) [Teeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teeth/) ## Related quotes > [“Undeterred by his lack of enthusiasm, she leaned forward, flashing him a set of breasts that didn't so much defy gravity as flip it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/undeterred-by-his-lack-of-enthusiasm-she-leaned-forward-flashing-him/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [“wanted to find bottom and stay there, where the pain wasn’t as sharp, where it didn’t have teeth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hunt/wanted-to-find-bottom-and-stay-there-where-the-pain-wasn-t-as-sharp/) [John Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hunt/) > [“I got my face close up to the man still standing. I let him understand that there was oodles of danger in me; my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-woodrell/i-got-my-face-close-up-to-the-man-still-standing-i-let-him-understand/) [Daniel Woodrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-woodrell/) > [Getting ready: the show girl scratches her breast and shakes out her feathers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/getting-ready-the-show-girl-scratches-her-breast-and-shakes-out-her/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Who are you?' Mo looked at the White Women. Then he looked at Dustfinger's still face. Guess.' The bird ruffled up its golden feathers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/who-are-you-mo-looked-at-the-white-women-then-he-looked-at-dustfinger/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Virtue could see to do what virtue would By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/virtue-could-see-to-do-what-virtue-would-by-her-own-radiant-light/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [I've been doing 'The Bachelor' long enough that I don't really care whose feathers I ruffle and how many waves I cause, because my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-harrison/i-ve-been-doing-the-bachelor-long-enough-that-i-don-t-really-care/) [Chris Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-harrison/) > [The world is not a burden; we make it a burden by our desires. 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It's the difference between using a feather and using a chicken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/just-erotic-nothing-kinky-it-s-the-difference-between-using-a-feather/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Only the chicken-lover will understand me. He will give me a kindly look, maybe mildly desirous. His eyes will tell me: You might look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/only-the-chicken-lover-will-understand-me-he-will-give-me-a-kindly/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [Stefan: "Indian with a dot, not a feather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/stefan-indian-with-a-dot-not-a-feather/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [A free society depends upon a high degree of mutual trust. The public will not give that trust to officials who are not seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/a-free-society-depends-upon-a-high-degree-of-mutual-trust-the-public/) [Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/) ## More by Neil Shubin > [“... two little patches of tissue essentially control the development of the pattern of bones inside limbs. A strip of tissue at the extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/two-little-patches-of-tissue-essentially-control-the-development-of/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“In areas close to the ZPA, where there is a high concentration of this molecule, cells would respond by making a pinky. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/in-areas-close-to-the-zpa-where-there-is-a-high-concentration-of-this/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“All the genetic switches that make fingers, arm bones, and toes do their thing during the third to eighth week after conception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/all-the-genetic-switches-that-make-fingers-arm-bones-and-toes-do/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“My building was constructed in 1896, and the utilities reflect an odd design that has been jerry-rigged further with each renovation. 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In humans these cells make up about 70 percent of all the sensory cells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-retina-absorbs-the-light-via-sensitive-light-gathering-cells-in/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Some fish, for example the lungfish, have the one bone at the base. Other fish, for example Eusthenopteron, have the one bone–two bones arrangement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/some-fish-for-example-the-lungfish-have-the-one-bone-at-the-base/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“The key to tooth development is that an interaction between these two layers of tissue, an outer sheet of cells and an inner loose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-key-to-tooth-development-is-that-an-interaction-between-these-two/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“The molecules that allow microbes to catch their prey and hold on to them are likely candidates for the molecules that form the rivet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-molecules-that-allow-microbes-to-catch-their-prey-and-hold-on-to/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“In a perfectly designed world —one with no history— we would not have to suffer everything from hemorrhoids to cancer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/in-a-perfectly-designed-world-one-with-no-history-we-would-not-have/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Whole batteries of genes are turned on and off during fly development, and this pattern of gene activity serves to demarcate the different regions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/whole-batteries-of-genes-are-turned-on-and-off-during-fly-development/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“The first hard hydroxyapatite-containing body parts were teeth. Hard bones arose not to protect animals, but to eat them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-first-hard-hydroxyapatite-containing-body-parts-were-teeth-hard/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Tiktaalik has a shoulder, elbow, and wrist composed of the same bones as an upper arm, forearm, and wrist in a human. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/tiktaalik-has-a-shoulder-elbow-and-wrist-composed-of-the-same-bones/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Our body dries out with every passing year; newborns are about 75 percent water, not much different from an average potato.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/our-body-dries-out-with-every-passing-year-newborns-are-about-75/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) [Explore all 47 Neil Shubin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) ## More Breasts quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Where shall the lover rest, Whom the fates sever From his true maiden's breast, Parted for ever? Where, through groves deep and high, Sounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/where-shall-the-lover-rest-whom-the-fates-sever-from-his-true-maiden/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I feel that between my experience and my mother's, breast cancer is a little bit like someone who lives next door. I know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-nixon/i-feel-that-between-my-experience-and-my-mother-s-breast-cancer-is-a/) [Cynthia Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-nixon/) > [Poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think. Out of memory - a dress I lent my daughter on her way back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/poems-come-from-ordinary-experiences-and-objects-i-think-out-of/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [The headline here is not that a woman exposed a breast. It is, rather, that a breast exposed a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-pitts/the-headline-here-is-not-that-a-woman-exposed-a-breast-it-is-rather/) [Leonard Pitts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-pitts/) > [With breast cancer, it's all about detection. You have to educate young women and encourage them to do everything they have to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-rancic/with-breast-cancer-it-s-all-about-detection-you-have-to-educate-young/) [Bill Rancic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-rancic/) > [We must not forget that what I mean by the conquest of the world by spiritual thought is the sending out of the life-giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-must-not-forget-that-what-i-mean-by-the-conquest-of-the-world-by/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The women I know who have gone through breast cancer still laugh a lot. They're not crying all day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/the-women-i-know-who-have-gone-through-breast-cancer-still-laugh-a/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Having breast cancer is massive amounts of no fun,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/having-breast-cancer-is-massive-amounts-of-no-fun/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [If a man is pictured chopping off a woman's breast, it only gets an R rating; but if, God forbid, a man is pictured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-struthers/if-a-man-is-pictured-chopping-off-a-woman-s-breast-it-only-gets-an-r/) [Sally Struthers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-struthers/) [Browse all 1,224 Breasts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breasts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we didn't have teeth in the first place.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Neil Shubin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-breasts-if-we-didn-t-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Breasts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-breasts-if-we-didn-t-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/neil-shubin-14335_breasts_we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-b_2459932.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/neil-shubin-14335_breasts_we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-b_2459932.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b12/neil-shubin-14335_breasts_we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-b_2459932.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We would never have scales, feathers, or breasts if we didn't have teeth in the first place.” — Neil Shubin", "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": "Neil Shubin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We would never have scales, feathers,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-breasts-if-we-didn-t-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/we-would-never-have-scales-feathers-or-breasts-if-we-didn-t-have/#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 } } ] } ```