Apes Quote by Robert E. Howard
“My characters are more like men than these real men are, see. They're rough and rude, they got hands and they got bellies. They hate and they lust; break the skin of civilization and you find the ape, roaring and red-handed.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: Conan the Barbarian, Robert E. Howard, 1932
The quote contrasts the primal, instinctive nature of fictional heroes with the constrained civility of real men, suggesting that true humanity is raw and untamed.
In simple terms: Fictional heroes are wilder than real men.
Key Takeaway
Embrace authentic, unfiltered self.
Themes
human nature
civilization
masculinity
Mood
reflective
critical
provocative
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- literary analysis
- character development
- psychology
- cultural critique
Key Concepts
primal instinct
social constraint
Questions to Reflect On
- What does “ape” symbolize in this context?
- How can we balance primal instincts with civilized behavior?
A Different Perspective
The idealization of rawness may ignore the value of refinement and empathy.
![“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)
