--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For the soundest of evolutionary reasons…" description: "\"For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at his best when times are worst.\" — Robert Ardrey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/robert-ardrey-17947_evolutionary_for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons_3036997.jpg" --- # For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at… ![“For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at his best when times are worst.” quote by Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/robert-ardrey-17947_evolutionary_for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons_3036997.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/robert-ardrey-17947_evolutionary_for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons_3036997.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/robert-ardrey-17947_evolutionary_for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons_3036997.jpg) > “For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at his best when times are worst.” [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Evolutionary reasons make humans excel in worst times. **In simple terms:** Hard times bring out humanity’s best. Key Takeaway Adapt and thrive under pressure. Themes resilience evolution adversity human nature Mood inspirational realistic Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - crisis management - leadership - team building - mental health - innovation Key Concepts biology psychology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What traits help survive adversity? - How can societies support the vulnerable? A Different Perspective Not all thrive under pressure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Man is neither unique nor central nor necessarily here to stay. But he is a product of circumstances special to the point of disbelief.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/man-is-neither-unique-nor-central-nor-necessarily-here-to-stay-but-he/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [“There are good evolutionary reasons why our memories fail us in the specific ways they do. If everything we looked at, smelled, heard, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-good-evolutionary-reasons-why-our-memories-fail-us-in-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are very good evolutionary reasons for having religion. From early human history we have evolved a need to see God. We have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-trigell/there-are-very-good-evolutionary-reasons-for-having-religion-from/) [Jonathan Trigell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-trigell/) > [A man may not always be what he appears to be, but what he appears to be is always a significant part of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-gaylin/a-man-may-not-always-be-what-he-appears-to-be-but-what-he-appears-to/) [Willard Gaylin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-gaylin/) > [This life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venerable-bede/this-life-of-man-appears-for-a-short-space-but-of-what-went-before-or/) [Venerable Bede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venerable-bede/) > [“When a man appears in a ridiculous light to a woman, all's lost for that man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanis-aw-przybyszewski/when-a-man-appears-in-a-ridiculous-light-to-a-woman-all-s-lost-for/) Stanisław Przybyszewski > [There are many reasons for why a man does what de does. To be himself he must be able to give it all. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/there-are-many-reasons-for-why-a-man-does-what-de-does-to-be-himself/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Look at it carefully so that you will be sure to recognise it in case you travel some day to the African desert. And,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/look-at-it-carefully-so-that-you-will-be-sure-to-recognise-it-in-case/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [The reasons which any man offers to you for his own conduct betray his opinion of your character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/the-reasons-which-any-man-offers-to-you-for-his-own-conduct-betray/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [“ . . . perhaps the reasons for a man to leave his life were too obvious for him to name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/perhaps-the-reasons-for-a-man-to-leave-his-life-were-too-obvious-for/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [“Wait for a time, exactly under the star. Then, if a little man appears who laughs, who has golden hair and refuses to answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/wait-for-a-time-exactly-under-the-star-then-if-a-little-man-appears/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [And not a man appears to tell their fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/and-not-a-man-appears-to-tell-their-fate/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Man appears for a little while to laugh and weep, to work and play, and then to go to make room for those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/man-appears-for-a-little-while-to-laugh-and-weep-to-work-and-play-and/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [It is not difficult to conceive, however, that for many reasons a man writes much better than he lives. For without entering into refined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-not-difficult-to-conceive-however-that-for-many-reasons-a-man/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A man after death, is not a natural but a spiritual man; nevertheless he still appears in all respects like himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-swedenborg/a-man-after-death-is-not-a-natural-but-a-spiritual-man-nevertheless/) [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-swedenborg/) ## More by Robert Ardrey > [The city is a cultural invention enforcing on the citizen knowledge of his own nature. And this we do not like. That we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/the-city-is-a-cultural-invention-enforcing-on-the-citizen-knowledge/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [Do you care about freedom? Dreams may have inspired it, and wishes prompted it, but only war and weapons have made it yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/do-you-care-about-freedom-dreams-may-have-inspired-it-and-wishes/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [If you watch lizards and lions copulating, then you will see that in 200 million years the male has not had a single new idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/if-you-watch-lizards-and-lions-copulating-then-you-will-see-that-in/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [The dog barking at you from behind his master's fence acts for a motive indistinguishable from that of his master when the fence was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/the-dog-barking-at-you-from-behind-his-master-s-fence-acts-for-a/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [Not in innocence, and not in Asia, was mankind born. The home of our fathers was that African highland reaching north from the Cape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/not-in-innocence-and-not-in-asia-was-mankind-born-the-home-of-our/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [“I have lived my life in the shelter of too many northern alliances. I have made alliance with the gentle cow, the health department,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/i-have-lived-my-life-in-the-shelter-of-too-many-northern-alliances-i/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/the-miracle-of-man-is-not-how-far-he-has-sunk-but-how-magnificently/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [The hunter died when he achieved supremacy. Perhaps the death of the hunter will be the long monument to interglacial man. We denied a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/the-hunter-died-when-he-achieved-supremacy-perhaps-the-death-of-the/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/the-miracle-of-man-is-not-how-far-he-has-sunk-but-how-magnificently-2/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [Human war has been the most successful of our cultural traditions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/human-war-has-been-the-most-successful-of-our-cultural-traditions/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [Natural selection deals ruthlessly with any population, bird or beaver, which fails to solve the problems of its environment with all those resources, learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/natural-selection-deals-ruthlessly-with-any-population-bird-or-beaver/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [There is nothing so moving - not even acts of love or hate - as the discovery that one is not alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/there-is-nothing-so-moving-not-even-acts-of-love-or-hate-as-the/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [Man is a fraction of the animal world. Our history is an afterthought, no more, tacked to an infinite calender. We are not so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/man-is-a-fraction-of-the-animal-world-our-history-is-an-afterthought/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [Far from the truth lay the antique assumption that man had fathered the weapon. The weapon, instead, had fathered man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/far-from-the-truth-lay-the-antique-assumption-that-man-had-fathered/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [A bird does not fly because it has wings; it has wings because it flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/a-bird-does-not-fly-because-it-has-wings-it-has-wings-because-it-flies/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) [Explore all 36 Robert Ardrey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) ## More Evolutionary quotes > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. I see a planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/like-many-other-scientists-who-hold-the-catholic-faith-i-see-the/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [Like funny men, skilled diners are apparently perceived to have an evolutionary advantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goodyear/like-funny-men-skilled-diners-are-apparently-perceived-to-have-an/) [Dana Goodyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goodyear/) > [Almost all change is evolutionary, not revolutionary... expectations always travel at higher speeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-naisbitt/almost-all-change-is-evolutionary-not-revolutionary-expectations/) [John Naisbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-naisbitt/) > [From the day I got out, it was an evolutionary process. I was sick for, like, two years - that's the best way I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-wright-jr/from-the-day-i-got-out-it-was-an-evolutionary-process-i-was-sick-for/) [Isaac Wright Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-wright-jr/) > [From an evolutionary standpoint you can't just wipe everything out and start over, and I don't think you can do it in the school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/from-an-evolutionary-standpoint-you-can-t-just-wipe-everything-out/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [Evolutionary biology is now uttering and seeking those forces that link us with all those that have being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-forsyth/evolutionary-biology-is-now-uttering-and-seeking-those-forces-that/) Adrian Forsyth > [Creativity is the evolutionary impulse in the Universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/creativity-is-the-evolutionary-impulse-in-the-universe/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Innovation is an evolutionary process, so it's not necessary to be radical all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-jacobs/innovation-is-an-evolutionary-process-so-it-s-not-necessary-to-be/) [Marc Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-jacobs/) > [The trick is: how do you talk about natural selection without implying the rigidity of law? We use it as almost an active participant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/the-trick-is-how-do-you-talk-about-natural-selection-without-implying/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [You don't just magically flip some evolutionary switch somewhere and transmute a quadruped into an upright-walking bipedal human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-johanson/you-don-t-just-magically-flip-some-evolutionary-switch-somewhere-and/) [Donald Johanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-johanson/) > [“In science's pecking order, evolutionary biology lurks somewhere near the bottom, far closer to phrenology than to physics. For evolutionary biology is a historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-science-s-pecking-order-evolutionary-biology-lurks-somewhere-near/) [Jerry A. Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [I thought I was a revolutionary and was only an evolutionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathe-kollwitz/i-thought-i-was-a-revolutionary-and-was-only-an-evolutionary/) [Kathe Kollwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathe-kollwitz/) > [Evolutionary biologists are not content merely to explain how variation occurs within limits, however. They aspire to answer a much broader question-which is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-e-johnson/evolutionary-biologists-are-not-content-merely-to-explain-how/) [Phillip E. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-e-johnson/) > [I have a theory that evolutionary biologists are more vain than particle physicists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-ince/i-have-a-theory-that-evolutionary-biologists-are-more-vain-than/) [Robin Ince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-ince/) > [If sleep does not provide a remarkable set of benefits, then it's the biggest mistake the evolutionary process has ever made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-walker/if-sleep-does-not-provide-a-remarkable-set-of-benefits-then-it-s-the/) [Matthew Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-walker/) Browse all 135 Evolutionary quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at his best when times are worst.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Ardrey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons-man-appears-at-his-best-when/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evolutionary" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons-man-appears-at-his-best-when/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/robert-ardrey-17947_evolutionary_for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons_3036997.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/robert-ardrey-17947_evolutionary_for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons_3036997.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/robert-ardrey-17947_evolutionary_for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons_3036997.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at his best when times are worst.” — Robert Ardrey", "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": "Robert Ardrey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For the soundest of evolutionary reasons...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons-man-appears-at-his-best-when/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/for-the-soundest-of-evolutionary-reasons-man-appears-at-his-best-when/#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 } } ] } ```