--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're…" description: "\"We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're shopper-borrowers.\" — Robin Williams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/robin-williams-682_borrowers_we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re_1600427.jpg" --- # We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're shopper-borrowers. ![“We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're shopper-borrowers.” quote by Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/robin-williams-682_borrowers_we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re_1600427.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/robin-williams-682_borrowers_we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re_1600427.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/robin-williams-682_borrowers_we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re_1600427.jpg) > “We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're shopper-borrowers.” [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human evolution shifted from survival hunting to consumer borrowing, highlighting changing values and dependencies. **In simple terms:** We moved from hunting to borrowing. Key Takeaway Recognize modern dependencies. Themes evolution consumerism dependency Mood thoughtful critical Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - personal finance - social critique - environmental impact Key Concepts sociology economics Questions to Reflect On - How does consumer culture affect identity? - What can we learn from our hunter‑gatherer past? A Different Perspective The quote may oversimplify complex economic history. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hunter gatherers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunter-gatherers/) [Hunters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunters/) ## Related quotes > [“Estimates are that the hunter-gatherers who were all but wiped out by the agricultural revolution numbered around 2 million 12,000 years ago. Agriculture spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rutherford/estimates-are-that-the-hunter-gatherers-who-were-all-but-wiped-out-by/) [Adam Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rutherford/) > [“One thing I know people will say to me is ‘Are you suggesting we go back to being hunter-gatherers?’” “That of course is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/one-thing-i-know-people-will-say-to-me-is-are-you-suggesting-we-go/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Hunter-gatherers no more live on the knife-edge of survival than wolves or lions or sparrows or rabbits. Man was as well adapted to life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/hunter-gatherers-no-more-live-on-the-knife-edge-of-survival-than/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [In 10000 BC, all human beings were hunter-gatherers; by 1500 AD, 1 percent were hunter-gatherers. Less than .001 percent of people are hunter-gatherers today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-davidson/in-10000-bc-all-human-beings-were-hunter-gatherers-by-1500-ad-1/) [Robyn Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-davidson/) > [“Most peasant farmers and herders, who constitute the great majority of the world's actual food producers, aren't necessarily better off than hunter-gatherers. Time budget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/most-peasant-farmers-and-herders-who-constitute-the-great-majority-of/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [We were hunter-gatherers of information, and we moved from that to becoming farmers and cultivators of information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-rangaswami/we-were-hunter-gatherers-of-information-and-we-moved-from-that-to/) J.P. Rangaswami > [“Earlier than about 10,000 years ago, all human populations were hunter gatherers. Soon, probably none will be. Those not extinct will be 'civilised' —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/earlier-than-about-10-000-years-ago-all-human-populations-were-hunter/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“In the past few years, genetics have confirmed that the hunter-gatherers were not overwhelmed by the new wave of sedentary farmers, and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markham-shaw-pyle/in-the-past-few-years-genetics-have-confirmed-that-the-hunter/) [Markham Shaw Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markham-shaw-pyle/) > [We must have been hunters and gatherers but some of us were just waiters and hopers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-izzard/we-must-have-been-hunters-and-gatherers-but-some-of-us-were-just/) [Eddie Izzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-izzard/) > [“Rojer nodded, but his eye grew wet. Leesha squeezed his hand. "Herb Gatherers see death often," she told him. "No one, no one, ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-v-brett/rojer-nodded-but-his-eye-grew-wet-leesha-squeezed-his-hand-herb/) [Peter V. Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-v-brett/) > [“We are inclined to think of hunters and gatherers as poor because they don't have anything; perhaps better to think of them for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-sahlins/we-are-inclined-to-think-of-hunters-and-gatherers-as-poor-because/) [Marshall Sahlins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-sahlins/) > [There are those who collect the refuse of the public streets, but in order to be received into the band it is necessary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-bramah/there-are-those-who-collect-the-refuse-of-the-public-streets-but-in/) [Ernest Bramah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-bramah/) > [“Will you be at the harvest, Among the gatherers of new fruits?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/will-you-be-at-the-harvest-among-the-gatherers-of-new-fruits/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“The change from the categories of hunter-gatherers to pastoralism to agriculture involved using a decreasing area of land, but an increasingly more intensive use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romila-thapar/the-change-from-the-categories-of-hunter-gatherers-to-pastoralism-to/) [Romila Thapar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romila-thapar/) > [“Society itself was a lonelier place. As a species, we had always been close to nature; from our days as hunter-gatherers to our millennia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grimm/society-itself-was-a-lonelier-place-as-a-species-we-had-always-been/) David Grimm ## More by Robin Williams > [On stage you're free. You can say and do things that if you said and did any place else, you'd be arrested.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/on-stage-you-re-free-you-can-say-and-do-things-that-if-you-said-and/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [Humor is a great defense, and an offense too. Usually the recipient isn't too happy about it, but the people around are laughing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/humor-is-a-great-defense-and-an-offense-too-usually-the-recipient-isn/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [What's wrong with death sir? What are we so mortally afraid of? Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/what-s-wrong-with-death-sir-what-are-we-so-mortally-afraid-of-why-can/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/spring-is-nature-s-way-of-saying-let-s-party/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [I had sex with a prostitute when I was 21, I was so bad, she gave me a refund.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/i-had-sex-with-a-prostitute-when-i-was-21-i-was-so-bad-she-gave-me-a/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [We were talking briefly about cocaine... yeah. Anything that makes you paranoid and impotent, give me more of that!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/we-were-talking-briefly-about-cocaine-yeah-anything-that-makes-you/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [In America they really do mythologise people when they die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/in-america-they-really-do-mythologise-people-when-they-die/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/i-always-thought-the-idea-of-education-was-to-learn-to-think-for/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [I was a serious method actor until I visited this site.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/i-was-a-serious-method-actor-until-i-visited-this-site/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [I'm history! No, I'm mythology! Nah, I don't care what I am, I'm free!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/i-m-history-no-i-m-mythology-nah-i-don-t-care-what-i-am-i-m-free/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [But only in their dreams can men be truly free. It was always thus and always thus will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/but-only-in-their-dreams-can-men-be-truly-free-it-was-always-thus-and/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [People say satire is dead. It's not dead; it's alive and living in the White House.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/people-say-satire-is-dead-it-s-not-dead-it-s-alive-and-living-in-the/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [For me, comedy starts as a spew, a kind of explosion, and then you sculpt it from there, if at all. It comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/for-me-comedy-starts-as-a-spew-a-kind-of-explosion-and-then-you/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [Carpe per diem - seize the check.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/carpe-per-diem-seize-the-check/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [Cable is not bound because people pay for it. It's literally a choice, that's the operative word. If you don't like the language, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/cable-is-not-bound-because-people-pay-for-it-it-s-literally-a-choice/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) [Explore all 413 Robin Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) ## More Borrowers quotes > [I'm no innovator. If anything I'm a stealer, or borrower. I've stolen or borrowed from more people than you can shake a stick at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-bryant/i-m-no-innovator-if-anything-i-m-a-stealer-or-borrower-i-ve-stolen-or/) [Bear Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-bryant/) > [Control your generosity when dealing with a chronic borrower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/control-your-generosity-when-dealing-with-a-chronic-borrower/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Borrowers are nearly always ill-spenders, and it is with lent money that all evil is mainly done and all unjust war protracted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/borrowers-are-nearly-always-ill-spenders-and-it-is-with-lent-money/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [We must remember that nothing in this world really belongs to us. At best, we are merely borrowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/we-must-remember-that-nothing-in-this-world-really-belongs-to-us-at/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [The Treasury plan is a disgrace: a bailout of reckless bankers, lenders and investors that provides little direct debt relief to borrowers and financially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouriel-roubini/the-treasury-plan-is-a-disgrace-a-bailout-of-reckless-bankers-lenders/) [Nouriel Roubini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouriel-roubini/) > [Human beans are for Borrowers—like bread’s for butter!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-norton/human-beans-are-for-borrowers-like-bread-s-for-butter/) [Mary Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-norton/) > [The rich is the one that rules over those of little means, and the borrower is servant to the man doing the lending.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon/the-rich-is-the-one-that-rules-over-those-of-little-means-and-the/) [Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon/) > [Some borrowers are pretty damn good at fraud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-gilbert/some-borrowers-are-pretty-damn-good-at-fraud/) [Dan Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-gilbert/) > [In surveys, many borrowers say reverse mortgages have improved their lives and provided money they needed for retirement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/in-surveys-many-borrowers-say-reverse-mortgages-have-improved-their/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [What the mortgage bubble was all about was big banks like Goldman Sachs taking big bundles of subprime mortgages that were lent out largely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/what-the-mortgage-bubble-was-all-about-was-big-banks-like-goldman/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Conservatives may believe that impoverished borrowers destroyed Wall Street. But we liberals will not fool ourselves that stupid bankers sank conservatism for good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/conservatives-may-believe-that-impoverished-borrowers-destroyed-wall/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [When a bank makes a loan, it simply adds to the borrower's deposit account by the amount of the loan. It does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-anderson/when-a-bank-makes-a-loan-it-simply-adds-to-the-borrower-s-deposit/) Robert B. Anderson > [Take the whole range of imaginative literature, and we are all wholesale borrowers. In every matter that relates to invention, to use, or beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/take-the-whole-range-of-imaginative-literature-and-we-are-all/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [No gentleman can be without three copies of a book: one for show, one for use, and one for borrowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-heber/no-gentleman-can-be-without-three-copies-of-a-book-one-for-show-one/) Richard Heber > [The average credit score of today's FHA borrowers is higher than the average American household with a score. As it becomes more costly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zandi/the-average-credit-score-of-today-s-fha-borrowers-is-higher-than-the/) [Mark Zandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zandi/) Browse all 62 Borrowers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're shopper-borrowers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robin Williams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re-shopper-borrowers/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Borrowers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re-shopper-borrowers/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/robin-williams-682_borrowers_we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re_1600427.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/robin-williams-682_borrowers_we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re_1600427.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/robin-williams-682_borrowers_we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re_1600427.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We used to be hunter-gatherers, now we're shopper-borrowers.” — Robin Williams", "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": "Robin Williams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We used to be hunter-gatherers, now...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re-shopper-borrowers/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/we-used-to-be-hunter-gatherers-now-we-re-shopper-borrowers/#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 } } ] } ```