--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men ran after and ate horses for four…" description: "\"Men ran after and ate horses for four hundred thousand years. The outcome is more than a love of horse flesh; it is a runner's body.\" — Paul Shepard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/paul-shepard-31396_body_men-ran-after-and-ate-horses-for-four-hu_2624946.jpg" --- # Men ran after and ate horses for four hundred thousand… ![“Men ran after and ate horses for four hundred thousand years. The outcome is more than a love of horse flesh; it is a runner's body.” quote by Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/paul-shepard-31396_body_men-ran-after-and-ate-horses-for-four-hu_2624946.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/paul-shepard-31396_body_men-ran-after-and-ate-horses-for-four-hu_2624946.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/paul-shepard-31396_body_men-ran-after-and-ate-horses-for-four-hu_2624946.jpg) > “Men ran after and ate horses for four hundred thousand years. The outcome is more than a love of horse flesh; it is a runner's body.” [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human evolution favored running, shaping our bodies beyond mere meat consumption. **In simple terms:** Running shaped our bodies. Key Takeaway Recognize our runner’s heritage. Themes evolution biology physiology Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type scientific educational When to use this quote - sports training - health - archaeology Key Concepts anthropology physical fitness Questions to Reflect On - How does running affect health? - What can we learn from our runner’s body? A Different Perspective Modern lifestyles reduce running. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Endurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endurance/) [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [Horses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horses/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Runners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/runners/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [The horse is flesh and blood on a noble scale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-griffin/the-horse-is-flesh-and-blood-on-a-noble-scale/) Jeff Griffin > [“Between the Miles I have always counted the miles. Sometimes they came quick, Other times slow. The distance between things, The way I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-simon-gunn/between-the-miles-i-have-always-counted-the-miles-sometimes-they-came/) [Jacqueline Simon Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-simon-gunn/) > [I always loved running… It was something you could do by yourself and under your own power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/i-always-loved-running-it-was-something-you-could-do-by-yourself-and-2/) [Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/) > [We runners talk about having fun but I don't think anybody believes us. We talk about discipline and endurance, we take care, we exercise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sagal/we-runners-talk-about-having-fun-but-i-don-t-think-anybody-believes/) [Peter Sagal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sagal/) > [Nearly all runners do their slow runs too fast, and their fast runs too slow." Ken Mierke says. "So they're just training their bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/nearly-all-runners-do-their-slow-runs-too-fast-and-their-fast-runs/) [Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/) > [Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/most-runners-run-not-because-they-want-to-live-longer-but-because/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Listen to your body. Do not be a blind and deaf tenant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-a-sheehan/listen-to-your-body-do-not-be-a-blind-and-deaf-tenant/) [George A. Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-a-sheehan/) > [Man is a distance runner as a consequence of hundreds of thousands of years of chasing antelopes, horses, elephants, wild cattle, and deer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/man-is-a-distance-runner-as-a-consequence-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [ The human cardiovascular system evolved as part of the physiology of \[prehistoric\] hunters, who ran for their lives. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-human-cardiovascular-system-evolved-as-part-of-the-physiology-of/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [When men do not run they are likely to die prematurely from dysfunction of the heart and vascular systems or from disabling chronic disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/when-men-do-not-run-they-are-likely-to-die-prematurely-from/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Men are born human. What they must learn is to be an animal. If they learn otherwise it may kill them, and kill life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/men-are-born-human-what-they-must-learn-is-to-be-an-animal-if-they/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I am an avid runner, mainly on weekends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-wilson/i-am-an-avid-runner-mainly-on-weekends/) [Patrick Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-wilson/) > [Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have Nature, and that is much better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juha-vaatainen/stadiums-are-for-spectators-we-runners-have-nature-and-that-is-much/) Juha Vaatainen > [To be a champion long-distance runner you have to run on the edge of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toshihiko-seko/to-be-a-champion-long-distance-runner-you-have-to-run-on-the-edge-of/) Toshihiko Seko ## More by Paul Shepard > [The natural world is not only a set of constraints but of contexts within which we can more fully realize our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-natural-world-is-not-only-a-set-of-constraints-but-of-contexts/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Men are born human. What they must learn is to be an animal. If they learn otherwise it may kill them, and kill life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/men-are-born-human-what-they-must-learn-is-to-be-an-animal-if-they/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [When men do not run they are likely to die prematurely from dysfunction of the heart and vascular systems or from disabling chronic disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/when-men-do-not-run-they-are-likely-to-die-prematurely-from/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [To the desert go profits and hermits, through deserts go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/to-the-desert-go-profits-and-hermits-through-deserts-go-pilgrims-and/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Who would want to live in a world that is just not quite fatal?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/who-would-want-to-live-in-a-world-that-is-just-not-quite-fatal/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [All around us, aspects of the modern world - diet, exercise, medicine, art, work, family, philosophy, economics, ecology, psychology - have begun a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/all-around-us-aspects-of-the-modern-world-diet-exercise-medicine-art/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [ The human cardiovascular system evolved as part of the physiology of \[prehistoric\] hunters, who ran for their lives. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-human-cardiovascular-system-evolved-as-part-of-the-physiology-of/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Careless of waste, wallowing in refuse, exterminating the enemies . . . despising age, denying human natural history, fabricating pseudotraditions, swamped in the repeated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/careless-of-waste-wallowing-in-refuse-exterminating-the-enemies/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [The desert sky is encircling, majestic, terrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-desert-sky-is-encircling-majestic-terrible/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [There is a secret person undamaged in every individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/there-is-a-secret-person-undamaged-in-every-individual/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Man is a distance runner as a consequence of hundreds of thousands of years of chasing antelopes, horses, elephants, wild cattle, and deer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/man-is-a-distance-runner-as-a-consequence-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [“To the desert go prophets and hermits; through desert go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/to-the-desert-go-prophets-and-hermits-through-desert-go-pilgrims-and/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [“But it was probably long before anyone thought of pottery that the river was first perceived as a metaphor of destiny, the "clan river"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/but-it-was-probably-long-before-anyone-thought-of-pottery-that-the/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [“How are we to become native to this land?" (as quoted in Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land by Amy Irvine)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/how-are-we-to-become-native-to-this-land-as-quoted-in-trespass-living/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) [Explore all 15 Paul Shepard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. 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You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [I read a couple of books about neuroscience and the relationship between the mind and the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/i-read-a-couple-of-books-about-neuroscience-and-the-relationship/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) > [If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. 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My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) [Browse all 20,814 Body quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Men ran after and ate horses for four hundred thousand years. 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