--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We admit that we are like apes, but we…" description: "\"We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes.\" — Richard Dawkins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/richard-dawkins-115_apes_we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-se_3138629.jpg" --- # We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that… ![“We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/richard-dawkins-115_apes_we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-se_3138629.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/richard-dawkins-115_apes_we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-se_3138629.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/richard-dawkins-115_apes_we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-se_3138629.jpg) > “We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes.” [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. Humans share deep evolutionary roots with apes, yet often fail to recognize this kinship. **In simple terms:** We are apes but forget it. Key Takeaway Acknowledge our animal nature. Themes evolution self‑awareness humility Mood thoughtful serious Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - education curricula - public discourse - media representation - personal reflection Key Concepts common ancestry cognitive bias species identity Questions to Reflect On - Why do we ignore our ape heritage? - How can awareness improve behavior? A Different Perspective Denial can hinder scientific literacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) ## Related quotes > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [They worry one another like mastiffs, scrambling for rank and pay like apes for nuts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/they-worry-one-another-like-mastiffs-scrambling-for-rank-and-pay-like/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Like apes, we breed, sleep, and die. Yet like God we say, "I am." We are ontological oxymorons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/like-apes-we-breed-sleep-and-die-yet-like-god-we-say-i-am-we-are/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [Much like the French (or like ourselves, their apes),Who with strange habit do disguise their shapes;Who loving novels, full of affectation,Receive the manners of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-de-salluste-du-bartas/much-like-the-french-or-like-ourselves-their-apes-who-with-strange/) [Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-de-salluste-du-bartas/) > [It's weird... people say they're not like apes. Now how do you explain football then?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/it-s-weird-people-say-they-re-not-like-apes-now-how-do-you-explain/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [It's interesting to think that my ancestors used to live in the trees, like apes, until finally they got the nerve to head out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-interesting-to-think-that-my-ancestors-used-to-live-in-the-trees/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When the space shuttle gets back from its last mission, wouldn't it be hilarious if we were all dressed like apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/when-the-space-shuttle-gets-back-from-its-last-mission-wouldn-t-it-be/) Author Name > [We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-seldom-realize-for-example-that-our-most-private-thoughts-and-2/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [I have begun in old age to understand...that we seldom if ever realize how generous we are to ourselves, and just how stingy with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-have-begun-in-old-age-to-understand-that-we-seldom-if-ever-realize/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Everyone wants to be the survivor, but they seldom realize how very high the cost is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-g-harlen/everyone-wants-to-be-the-survivor-but-they-seldom-realize-how-very/) [B.G. Harlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-g-harlen/) > [“Those who have such a family seldom realize how rare and precious it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/those-who-have-such-a-family-seldom-realize-how-rare-and-precious-it/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“They looked like two apes pounding their chest and asking for a banana. The thing about me—I was not so willing to give just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krista-ritchie/they-looked-like-two-apes-pounding-their-chest-and-asking-for-a/) [Krista Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krista-ritchie/) > [“Modern men and women are obsessed with the sexual; it is the only realm of primordial adventure still left to most of us. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/modern-men-and-women-are-obsessed-with-the-sexual-it-is-the-only/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes. Our common ancestor with the chimpanzees and gorillas is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes-2/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [People sometimes try to score debating points by saying, Evolution is only a theory. That is correct, but it's important to understand what that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/people-sometimes-try-to-score-debating-points-by-saying-evolution-is/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## 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 Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) J. Lee Thompson > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dawkins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realize-that-we-are-apes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realize-that-we-are-apes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/richard-dawkins-115_apes_we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-se_3138629.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/richard-dawkins-115_apes_we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-se_3138629.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/richard-dawkins-115_apes_we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-se_3138629.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes.” — 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": "We admit that we are like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realize-that-we-are-apes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realize-that-we-are-apes/#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 } } ] } ```