Apes Quote by Riane Eisler
“We can learn a great deal from whales. It is the same lesson we can learn from our close genetic relatives, the bonobo apes of the Congo. Here mothers have a great deal of authority, there is very little violence (with no signs of sexual violence against females), and their society is held together by sharing and caring rather than by fear and force.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Chalice and the Blade, Riane Eisler, 1987
Observing bonobo societies shows that matriarchal authority, low violence, and cooperative sharing can create peaceful communities, offering lessons for human social organization.
In simple terms: Bonobo societies teach peace through shared care and female leadership.
Key Takeaway
Adopt cooperative, non‑violent practices.
Themes
peace
cooperation
gender roles
violence
social structure
Mood
hopeful
reflective
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- community building
- policy design
- education reform
- conflict mediation
Key Concepts
matriarchy
conflict resolution
social learning
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we model human institutions after bonobo cooperation?
- What barriers exist to adopting shared caregiving?
A Different Perspective
Human societies face entrenched power hierarchies that resist change.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
