--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Look at life from our perspective, and…" description: "\"“Look at life from our perspective, and you eukaryotes will soon cease giving yourselves such airs. You bipedal apes, you stump-tailed tree-shrews, you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/richard-dawkins-115_bacteria_look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-yo_2902233.jpg" --- # Look at life from our perspective, and you eukaryotes will… ![“Look at life from our perspective, and you eukaryotes will soon cease giving yourselves such airs. You bipedal apes, you stump-tailed tree-shrews, you desiccated lobe-fins, you vertebrated worms, you Hoxed-up sponges, you newcomers on the block, you eukaryotes, you barely distinguishable…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/richard-dawkins-115_bacteria_look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-yo_2902233.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/richard-dawkins-115_bacteria_look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-yo_2902233.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/richard-dawkins-115_bacteria_look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-yo_2902233.jpg) > ““Look at life from our perspective, and you eukaryotes will soon cease giving yourselves such airs. You bipedal apes, you stump-tailed tree-shrews, you desiccated lobe-fins, you vertebrated worms, you Hoxed-up sponges, you newcomers on the block, you eukaryotes, you barely distinguishable congregations of a monotonously narrow parish, you are little more than fancy froth on the surface of bacterial life. Why, the very cells that build you are themselves colonies of bacteria, replaying the same old tricks we bacteria discovered a billion years ago. We were here before you arrived, and we shall be here after you are gone.”” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings are a brief, fragile layer atop ancient bacterial life, reminding us of our humble origins and temporary dominance. **In simple terms:** We are tiny, temporary beings built on bacteria. Key Takeaway Recognize our place in life's long history. Themes humility evolution anthropocentrism Mood reflective humbling Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - education - public speaking - philosophical discourse Key Concepts biological hierarchy cosmic perspective Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing our bacterial roots change our values? - What responsibilities arise from this perspective? A Different Perspective Our consciousness may limit understanding of deeper ecological interdependence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bacteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bacteria/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“Sixty years on, we know that HGT is one of the most profound aspects of bacterial life. It allows bacteria to evolve at blistering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-yong/sixty-years-on-we-know-that-hgt-is-one-of-the-most-profound-aspects/) [Ed Yong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-yong/) > [“We inherit every one of our genes, but we leave the womb without a single microbe. As we pass through our mother's birth canal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-specter/we-inherit-every-one-of-our-genes-but-we-leave-the-womb-without-a/) [Michael Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-specter/) > [For the first half of geological time our ancestors were bacteria. Most creatures still are bacteria, and each one of our trillions of cells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/for-the-first-half-of-geological-time-our-ancestors-were-bacteria/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Very close cousins like humans and chimps have almost all their genes in common. Slightly less close cousins like humans and monkeys still have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/very-close-cousins-like-humans-and-chimps-have-almost-all-their-genes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Science ha seradicated smallpox, can immunise against most previously deadly viruses, can kill most previously deadly bacteria. Theology has done nothing but talk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/science-ha-seradicated-smallpox-can-immunise-against-most-previously/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Science has eradicated smallpox, can immunise against most previously deadly viruses, can kill most previously deadly bacteria. Theology has done nothing but talk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/science-has-eradicated-smallpox-can-immunise-against-most-previously/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Most people are surprised when they hear my somber figures: we know of 2 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms, and we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/most-people-are-surprised-when-they-hear-my-somber-figures-we-know-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Nineteen hundred and three will bring great advances in surgery, in the study of bacteria, in the knowledge of the cause and prevention of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/nineteen-hundred-and-three-will-bring-great-advances-in-surgery-in/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Plants with leaves no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough omnivorous bacteria…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-eric-drexler/plants-with-leaves-no-more-efficient-than-today-s-solar-cells-could/) [K. Eric Drexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-eric-drexler/) > [“According to pioneering microbiologist Lynn Margulis, "fully 10 percent of our own dry body weight consists of bacteria, some of which, although they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-bjornerud/according-to-pioneering-microbiologist-lynn-margulis-fully-10-percent/) Marcia Bjornerud > [“Drinking lots of alcohol makes the gut leakier, allowing microbes to more readily influence the brain. Could that help to explain why alcoholics often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-yong/drinking-lots-of-alcohol-makes-the-gut-leakier-allowing-microbes-to/) [Ed Yong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-yong/) > [There are more microbes per person than the entire population of the world. Imagine that. Per person. This means that if the time scale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/there-are-more-microbes-per-person-than-the-entire-population-of-the/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [You can't just boss bacteria around like that," said the younger Mrs. Hempstock. "They don't like it." "Stuff and silliness," said the old lady.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-t-just-boss-bacteria-around-like-that-said-the-younger-mrs/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [...The large majority of those infectious microbes that cause us so much illness and pain are ANAEROBIC...a big word that means they live and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-mccabe/the-large-majority-of-those-infectious-microbes-that-cause-us-so-much/) [Ed McCabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-mccabe/) > [“Bacteria and viruses were the most effective allies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-hughes-galeano/bacteria-and-viruses-were-the-most-effective-allies/) [Eduardo Hughes Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-hughes-galeano/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [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/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Bacteria quotes > [“Bacteria and viruses were the most effective allies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-hughes-galeano/bacteria-and-viruses-were-the-most-effective-allies/) [Eduardo Hughes Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-hughes-galeano/) > [...The large majority of those infectious microbes that cause us so much illness and pain are ANAEROBIC...a big word that means they live and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-mccabe/the-large-majority-of-those-infectious-microbes-that-cause-us-so-much/) [Ed McCabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-mccabe/) > [You can't just boss bacteria around like that," said the younger Mrs. Hempstock. "They don't like it." "Stuff and silliness," said the old lady.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-t-just-boss-bacteria-around-like-that-said-the-younger-mrs/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are more microbes per person than the entire population of the world. Imagine that. Per person. This means that if the time scale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/there-are-more-microbes-per-person-than-the-entire-population-of-the/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [“Drinking lots of alcohol makes the gut leakier, allowing microbes to more readily influence the brain. Could that help to explain why alcoholics often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-yong/drinking-lots-of-alcohol-makes-the-gut-leakier-allowing-microbes-to/) [Ed Yong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-yong/) > [“According to pioneering microbiologist Lynn Margulis, "fully 10 percent of our own dry body weight consists of bacteria, some of which, although they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-bjornerud/according-to-pioneering-microbiologist-lynn-margulis-fully-10-percent/) Marcia Bjornerud > [Plants with leaves no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough omnivorous bacteria…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-eric-drexler/plants-with-leaves-no-more-efficient-than-today-s-solar-cells-could/) [K. Eric Drexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-eric-drexler/) > [Nineteen hundred and three will bring great advances in surgery, in the study of bacteria, in the knowledge of the cause and prevention of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/nineteen-hundred-and-three-will-bring-great-advances-in-surgery-in/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Most people are surprised when they hear my somber figures: we know of 2 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms, and we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/most-people-are-surprised-when-they-hear-my-somber-figures-we-know-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Harmful bacteria, viruses, calcium-forming micro-organisms, and candida are part of our world. Unfortunately, so are toxic chemicals, including everything from pesticides to car pollution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wolfe/harmful-bacteria-viruses-calcium-forming-micro-organisms-and-candida/) [David Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wolfe/) > [With one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) that all humans who have ever been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/with-one-linear-centimeter-of-your-lower-colon-there-lives-and-works/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“Eighty-five percent of recorded species live in the terrestrial realm, and the majority of these, some 850,000, are arthropods (that is, insects, spiders, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-leakey/eighty-five-percent-of-recorded-species-live-in-the-terrestrial-realm/) Richard E. Leakey > [As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only stand for leprosy, gonorrhea, bacteria, and tuberculosis, all of which are detrimental to human existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yahya-jammeh/as-far-as-i-am-concerned-lgbt-can-only-stand-for-leprosy-gonorrhea/) [Yahya Jammeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yahya-jammeh/) > [There are about 250,000 different species of fossil plants and animals known . . In spite of this large quantity of information, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-m-raup/there-are-about-250-000-different-species-of-fossil-plants-and/) [David M. Raup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-m-raup/) > [Human health should now be thought of as a collective property of the human-associate d microbiota, as one group of researchers recently concluded in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/human-health-should-now-be-thought-of-as-a-collective-property-of-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) [Browse all 285 Bacteria quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bacteria/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Look at life from our perspective, and you eukaryotes will soon cease giving yourselves such airs. You bipedal apes, you stump-tailed tree-shrews, you desiccated lobe-fins, you vertebrated worms, you Hoxed-up sponges, you newcomers on the block, you eukaryotes, you barely distinguishable congregations of a monotonously narrow parish, you are little more than fancy froth on the surface of bacterial life. Why, the very cells that build you are themselves colonies of bacteria, replaying the same old tricks we bacteria discovered a billion years ago. We were here before you arrived, and we shall be here after you are gone.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dawkins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-you-eukaryotes-will-soon-cease/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bacteria" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-you-eukaryotes-will-soon-cease/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/richard-dawkins-115_bacteria_look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-yo_2902233.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/richard-dawkins-115_bacteria_look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-yo_2902233.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/richard-dawkins-115_bacteria_look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-yo_2902233.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Look at life from our perspective, and you eukaryotes will soon cease giving yourselves such airs. You…” — Richard Dawkins", "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": "Richard Dawkins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Look at life from our perspective,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-you-eukaryotes-will-soon-cease/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/look-at-life-from-our-perspective-and-you-eukaryotes-will-soon-cease/#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 } } ] } ```