---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why, for example, should a group of…"
description: "\"Why, for example, should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen struggle for billions of years to organise themse..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/robert-m-pirsig-817_billions_why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple_2114469.jpg"
---

#  Why, for example, should a group of simple, stable…

![“Why, for example, should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen struggle for billions of years to organise themselves into a professor of chemistry? What's the motive?” quote by Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/robert-m-pirsig-817_billions_why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple_2114469.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/robert-m-pirsig-817_billions_why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple_2114469.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/robert-m-pirsig-817_billions_why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple_2114469.jpg)

> “Why, for example, should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen struggle for billions of years to organise themselves into a professor of chemistry? What's the motive?”

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote questions why simple molecules have evolved into complex chemistry, probing purpose behind natural organization.

**In simple terms:** Why do simple elements form complex chemistry?

Key Takeaway

Consider the drive behind molecular complexity.

Themes

science philosophy purpose

Mood

inquisitive analytical

Type

philosophical scientific

When to use this quote

- research
- education
- public outreach

Key Concepts

emergence evolutionary chemistry

Questions to Reflect On

- What drives complexity in nature?
- Is purpose a human projection?

A Different Perspective

Complexity may not have intentional motive.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Chemistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemistry/) [Hydrogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hydrogen/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [Oxygen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oxygen/) [Professors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professors/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/)

## Related quotes

> [Science probes; it does not prove. Imagine Newton's reaction to an objector of his law of gravity who argued that he could not establish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/science-probes-it-does-not-prove-imagine-newton-s-reaction-to-an/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [“Living organisms are constructed, for the most part, from compounds of carbon and hydrogen. Carbon is critical because of its astonishing flexibility. Add hydrogen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/living-organisms-are-constructed-for-the-most-part-from-compounds-of/)

[David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/)

> [We need to go back to our relationship with nature and understand that those trees are our lungs. The earth is recycling as our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/we-need-to-go-back-to-our-relationship-with-nature-and-understand/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [Many years ago it was taught that plants and animals were composed of different materials: plants, of a chemical substance of three elements,- carbon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-gray/many-years-ago-it-was-taught-that-plants-and-animals-were-composed-of/)

[Asa Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-gray/)

> [I believe that at the moment of death, that the soul is released in a molecular form, that actually goes into the - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-aykroyd/i-believe-that-at-the-moment-of-death-that-the-soul-is-released-in-a/)

[Dan Aykroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-aykroyd/)

> [Four elements, Hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, also provide an example of the astonishing togetherness of our universe. They make up the "organic" molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-wald/four-elements-hydrogen-carbon-oxygen-and-nitrogen-also-provide-an/)

[George Wald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-wald/)

> [All the green in the planted world consists of these whole, rounded chloroplasts wending their ways in water. If you analyze a molecule of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/all-the-green-in-the-planted-world-consists-of-these-whole-rounded/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [ In a certain sense I made a living for five or six years out of that one star \[Ï… Sagittarii\] and it is still… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-l-greenstein/in-a-certain-sense-i-made-a-living-for-five-or-six-years-out-of-that/)

Jesse L. Greenstein

> [From the results so far obtained it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the long-range atoms arising from collision of alpha particles with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/from-the-results-so-far-obtained-it-is-difficult-to-avoid-the/)

[Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/)

> [“I regard breathing industrial gas to be as harmful as heavy smoking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/i-regard-breathing-industrial-gas-to-be-as-harmful-as-heavy-smoking/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> […oysters are the only food that never causes indigestion. Indeed, a man would have to eat sixteen dozen of these acephalous molluscs in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/oysters-are-the-only-food-that-never-causes-indigestion-indeed-a-man/)

[Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/)

> [“Before artificial nitrogen fertilizer became widely available, the world's population was around 2 billion. When we no longer have it - or if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-weisman/before-artificial-nitrogen-fertilizer-became-widely-available-the/)

[Alan Weisman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-weisman/)

> [And to use something as elegant as a tree? Imagine this design assignment: Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/and-to-use-something-as-elegant-as-a-tree-imagine-this-design/)

[William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/)

> [We sometimes freeze the specimen with liquid nitrogen, which is extremely cold, you know. This is another technique we use now - but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lennart-nilsson/we-sometimes-freeze-the-specimen-with-liquid-nitrogen-which-is/)

[Lennart Nilsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lennart-nilsson/)

> [Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect-experience-and-from-the/)

[Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/)

## More by Robert M. Pirsig

> [“And from time to time you find your “county road” takes you onto a two-rutter and then a single rutter and then into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/and-from-time-to-time-you-find-your-county-road-takes-you-onto-a-two/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [“I started to roll over for more sleep but heard a rooster crowing and then became aware we are on vacation and there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-started-to-roll-over-for-more-sleep-but-heard-a-rooster-crowing-and/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-buddha-the-godhead-resides-quite-as-comfortably-in-the-circuits/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [Even though quality cannot be defined, you know what quality is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/even-though-quality-cannot-be-defined-you-know-what-quality-is/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [I suppose philosophy is historically not a woman's game, though that is changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-suppose-philosophy-is-historically-not-a-woman-s-game-though-that/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [Up until my first book was published, I had all this potential, people would say, and I screwed up. After it, I could say:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/up-until-my-first-book-was-published-i-had-all-this-potential-people/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [There is a perennial classical question that asks which part of the motorcycle, which grain of sand in which pile, is the Buddha. Obviously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/there-is-a-perennial-classical-question-that-asks-which-part-of-the/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [“Of the value traps, the most widespread and pernicious is value rigidity. This is an inability to revalue what one sees because of commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/of-the-value-traps-the-most-widespread-and-pernicious-is-value/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [“Historically mystics have claimed that for a true understanding of reality metaphysics is too “scientific”. Metaphysics is not reality. Metaphysics is names about reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/historically-mystics-have-claimed-that-for-a-true-understanding-of/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [“What’s emerging from the pattern of my own life is the for belief that the crisis is being caused by the inadequacy of existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-s-emerging-from-the-pattern-of-my-own-life-is-the-for-belief/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [To speak of certain government and establishment institutions as 'the system' is to speak correctly . . . They are sustained by structural relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/to-speak-of-certain-government-and-establishment-institutions-as-the/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/if-a-revolution-destroys-a-systematic-government-but-the-systematic/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-only-zen-you-can-find-on-the-tops-of-mountains-is-the-zen-you/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [Only social patterns can control biological patterns, and the instrument of conversation between society and biology is not words. The instrument of conversation between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/only-social-patterns-can-control-biological-patterns-and-the/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [Even in the presence of others he was completely alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/even-in-the-presence-of-others-he-was-completely-alone/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

[Explore all 351 Robert M. Pirsig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

## More Billions quotes

> [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/)

[Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/)

> [As far as Japan is concerned, I want to help all of our allies, but we are losing billions and billions of dollars. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/as-far-as-japan-is-concerned-i-want-to-help-all-of-our-allies-but-we/)

[Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/)

> [The universe is simmering down, like a giant stew left to cook for four billion years. Sooner or later we won’t be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-bloch/the-universe-is-simmering-down-like-a-giant-stew-left-to-cook-for/)

[Arthur Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-bloch/)

> [Right now, the government is spending billions of dollars supporting the problem-makers in the U.S. economy - the polluters, despoilers, incarcerators, and warmongers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/right-now-the-government-is-spending-billions-of-dollars-supporting/)

[Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/)

> [If Jesus is the Son of God in human flesh, He's one of a kind of the 13 billions of people who have ever lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/if-jesus-is-the-son-of-god-in-human-flesh-he-s-one-of-a-kind-of-the/)

[Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/)

> [Here we were talking about economic development, about investing billions of dollars in various programs, and I could see it wasn't billions of dollars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/here-we-were-talking-about-economic-development-about-investing/)

[Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/)

> [Everyone thinks they've won the Magical Belief Lottery. Everyone thinks they more or less have a handle on things, that they, as opposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/everyone-thinks-they-ve-won-the-magical-belief-lottery-everyone/)

[R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/)

> [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

> [The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-technology-involved-in-making-anything-invisible-is-so-infinitely/)

[Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/)

> [The idea of spontaneous generation of life in its present form is therefore highly improbable even to the scale of the billions of years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilya-prigogine/the-idea-of-spontaneous-generation-of-life-in-its-present-form-is/)

[Ilya Prigogine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilya-prigogine/)

> [To defy heredity is to defy billions of years, to defy the first cell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/to-defy-heredity-is-to-defy-billions-of-years-to-defy-the-first-cell/)

[Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/)

> [When I look at the human brain I'm still in awe of it. Every single time you lift off the bone and open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/when-i-look-at-the-human-brain-i-m-still-in-awe-of-it-every-single/)

[Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/)

> [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

> [ We have the ability to take him \[President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez\] out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/we-have-the-ability-to-take-him-president-of-venezuela-hugo-chavez/)

[Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/)

> [The buildings that were in question, they said in the same report, which was - actually, it wasn't even a bad story, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/the-buildings-that-were-in-question-they-said-in-the-same-report/)

[Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/)

Browse all 1,864 Billions quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Why, for example, should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen struggle for billions of years to organise themselves into a professor of chemistry? What's the motive?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Robert M. Pirsig"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple-stable-compounds-of-carbon/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Billions"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple-stable-compounds-of-carbon/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/robert-m-pirsig-817_billions_why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple_2114469.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/robert-m-pirsig-817_billions_why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple_2114469.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eed/robert-m-pirsig-817_billions_why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple_2114469.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Why, for example, should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen…” — Robert M. Pirsig",
                "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 M. Pirsig",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Why, for example, should a group...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple-stable-compounds-of-carbon/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/why-for-example-should-a-group-of-simple-stable-compounds-of-carbon/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```