--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was familiar with humans at this point…" description: "\"“I was familiar with humans at this point only from afar, but even from there, I found them a pitiable species: scaleless, fangless, clawless, nearly f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/patrick-jennings-46039_humans_i-was-familiar-with-humans-at-this-point_2131361.jpg" --- # I was familiar with humans at this point only from afar… ![“I was familiar with humans at this point only from afar, but even from there, I found them a pitiable species: scaleless, fangless, clawless, nearly furless, wingless, venomless, witless. I honestly didn't understand how they had thrived so.” quote by Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/patrick-jennings-46039_humans_i-was-familiar-with-humans-at-this-point_2131361.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/patrick-jennings-46039_humans_i-was-familiar-with-humans-at-this-point_2131361.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/patrick-jennings-46039_humans_i-was-familiar-with-humans-at-this-point_2131361.jpg) > ““I was familiar with humans at this point only from afar, but even from there, I found them a pitiable species: scaleless, fangless, clawless, nearly furless, wingless, venomless, witless. I honestly didn't understand how they had thrived so.”” [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes humans as weak and puzzling, highlighting perceived flaws and mystery. **In simple terms:** Humans seem fragile and puzzling. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about humanity. Themes human nature critique philosophy Mood critical contemplative Type philosophical speculative When to use this quote - first contact scenario - science fiction narrative - ethical debate Key Concepts existentialism anthropology skepticism Questions to Reflect On - What qualities of humanity are overlooked? - How does perspective shape our judgment? A Different Perspective May be overly cynical, ignoring human strengths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Snakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snakes/) [Thriving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thriving/) ## Related quotes > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [“Digital organizations are like the living systems that can self-renew in thriving as the high-performance businesses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/digital-organizations-are-like-the-living-systems-that-can-self-renew/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) > [“If all I’m doing is creating beautiful spaces, I’m failing. But if I’m creating beautiful spaces where families are thriving, then I’m really doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-gaines/if-all-i-m-doing-is-creating-beautiful-spaces-i-m-failing-but-if-i-m/) [Chip Gaines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-gaines/) > [The criminal elements here in America are thriving under the Biden Administration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hagerty/the-criminal-elements-here-in-america-are-thriving-under-the-biden/) [Bill Hagerty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hagerty/) > [President Obama believes that income inequality is one of the most pressing matters facing the nation. If we are going to be a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/president-obama-believes-that-income-inequality-is-one-of-the-most/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The explosive growth in places like Shanghai has helped lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and into a thriving new middle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-locke/the-explosive-growth-in-places-like-shanghai-has-helped-lift-hundreds/) [Gary Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-locke/) > [“You can tuck your head under your wing for a while...and wait out this storm. But you will fly again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connilyn-cossette/you-can-tuck-your-head-under-your-wing-for-a-while-and-wait-out-this/) [Connilyn Cossette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connilyn-cossette/) > [I believe we are built to have thriving personal lives, and I think we're built to have thriving professional lives. Where the error occurs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-gaines/i-believe-we-are-built-to-have-thriving-personal-lives-and-i-think-we/) [Chip Gaines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-gaines/) > [The modern world has created airports and hospitals and put 10,000 songs in our pocket. It has built gleaming buildings and computers and advances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/the-modern-world-has-created-airports-and-hospitals-and-put-10-000/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [That's why WCW and WWE were doing so well; we were thriving off the competition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-gunn/that-s-why-wcw-and-wwe-were-doing-so-well-we-were-thriving-off-the/) [Billy Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-gunn/) > [“Love is a beautiful, wonderful, and even sacred thing, but until it arrives, shouldn’t we give ourselves permission to thrive?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-hale/love-is-a-beautiful-wonderful-and-even-sacred-thing-but-until-it/) [Mandy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-hale/) > [Empowering women in the workforce is a key to growing the economy and having a thriving middle class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gillibrand/empowering-women-in-the-workforce-is-a-key-to-growing-the-economy-and/) [Kirsten Gillibrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-gillibrand/) > [It is only in your thriving that you have anything to offer anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/it-is-only-in-your-thriving-that-you-have-anything-to-offer-anyone/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [I have two teenage sons, and they're both surviving, thriving, and having a great time, and they're always on social media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bloom/i-have-two-teenage-sons-and-they-re-both-surviving-thriving-and/) [Paul Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bloom/) > [“I grew up in libraries, and I hope I've learned never to take them for granted. A thriving library is the heart of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josie-brown/i-grew-up-in-libraries-and-i-hope-i-ve-learned-never-to-take-them-for/) [Josie Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josie-brown/) ## More by Patrick Jennings > [“What is with these guys? Where's the thrill in watching snakes eat? I certainly didn't thrill in watching humans eat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/what-is-with-these-guys-where-s-the-thrill-in-watching-snakes-eat-i/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) > [“My blood was boiling, which is not a good thing for a coldblood. Dracula was dead. Rex was dying or dead. Breakfast was dying.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/my-blood-was-boiling-which-is-not-a-good-thing-for-a-coldblood/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) > [“You bite the hand that feeds, Speedy said. Humans don't like that. They view it as a sign of ingratitude. I never asked anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/you-bite-the-hand-that-feeds-speedy-said-humans-don-t-like-that-they/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) > [“Life in a box was unbearable. How did humans stand it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/life-in-a-box-was-unbearable-how-did-humans-stand-it/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) > [“I had no idea what humans were capable of. I heard they were crafty, but how are they able to do such things? You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/i-had-no-idea-what-humans-were-capable-of-i-heard-they-were-crafty/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) > [“Through the window, I saw the beautiful world outside: the sky, the sun, the cacti, the rocks, and the dirt. How I longed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/through-the-window-i-saw-the-beautiful-world-outside-the-sky-the-sun/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) > [“So I'd been captured? So I was starving? Did that mean I had to shrivel up and die? I could still slither. I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jennings/so-i-d-been-captured-so-i-was-starving-did-that-mean-i-had-to-shrivel/) [Patrick Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) [Explore all 8 Patrick Jennings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jennings/) ## More Humans quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [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 > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) [Browse all 32,126 Humans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was familiar with humans at this point only from afar, but even from there, I found them a pitiable species: scaleless, fangless, clawless, nearly furless, wingless, venomless, witless. 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