--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never blame the man: his hard-pressed…" description: "\"“Never blame the man: his hard-pressed Ancestors formed him: the other anthropoid apes were safe In the great southern rain-forest and hardly changed I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28d/robinson-jeffers-8592_apes_never-blame-the-man-his-hard-pressed-anc_2423544.jpg" --- # Never blame the man: his hard-pressed Ancestors formed… ![“Never blame the man: his hard-pressed Ancestors formed him: the other anthropoid apes were safe In the great southern rain-forest and hardly changed In a million years: but the race of man was made By shock and agony… … a wound was made in the brain When life became too hard, and has never healed…” quote by Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28d/robinson-jeffers-8592_apes_never-blame-the-man-his-hard-pressed-anc_2423544.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28d/robinson-jeffers-8592_apes_never-blame-the-man-his-hard-pressed-anc_2423544.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28d/robinson-jeffers-8592_apes_never-blame-the-man-his-hard-pressed-anc_2423544.jpg) > ““Never blame the man: his hard-pressed Ancestors formed him: the other anthropoid apes were safe In the great southern rain-forest and hardly changed In a million years: but the race of man was made By shock and agony… … a wound was made in the brain When life became too hard, and has never healed. It is there that they learned trembling religion and blood- sacrifice, It is there that they learned to butcher beasts and to slaughter men, And hate the world.”” [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) ## 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 is marked by suffering and violence, leading to religion and blood‑sacrifice as coping mechanisms. **In simple terms:** Human progress is tied to pain and violence. Key Takeaway Recognize the cost of progress. Themes suffering violence religion Mood somber reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - historical analysis - ethical debates - personal reflection Key Concepts anthropology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What drives humanity toward violence? - Can compassion replace suffering? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex human history. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Hate the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate-the-world/) ## Related quotes > [I have discovered the missing link between the anthropoid apes and civilized men. It's us!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/i-have-discovered-the-missing-link-between-the-anthropoid-apes-and/) [Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/) > [“Certainly we’ve made important innovations, chief among them the systematic use of the scientific method,” he said at one point, “but the primitive groundwork…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/certainly-we-ve-made-important-innovations-chief-among-them-the/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Thus the evidence given by those five new thigh bones of the morphological and functional distinctness of Pithecanthropus erectus furnishes proof, at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-dubois/thus-the-evidence-given-by-those-five-new-thigh-bones-of-the/) Eugene Dubois > [Man appears to be the missing link between anthropoid apes and human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/man-appears-to-be-the-missing-link-between-anthropoid-apes-and-human/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [Man is man because he chanced to develop intelligence instead of instinct; otherwise he would to this day have remained among the anthropoid apes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/man-is-man-because-he-chanced-to-develop-intelligence-instead-of/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [“Quite recently the human descent theory has been stigmatized as the 'gorilla theory of human ancestry.' All this despite the fact that Darwin himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fairfield-osborn/quite-recently-the-human-descent-theory-has-been-stigmatized-as-the/) [Henry Fairfield Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fairfield-osborn/) > [“What would be my, how should I call it, spontaneous attitude towards the universe? It's a very dark one. The first thesis would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/what-would-be-my-how-should-i-call-it-spontaneous-attitude-towards/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Help me hate the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dead-kennedys/help-me-hate-the-world/) [Dead Kennedys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dead-kennedys/) > [“The world has given me a good life since then, I won't deny it, but sometimes I hate the world, anyway. Dick Cheney, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-world-has-given-me-a-good-life-since-then-i-won-t-deny-it-but/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I shall put down my middle fingers cause I cant hate the world; I can only judge my bad decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-shall-put-down-my-middle-fingers-cause-i-cant-hate-the-world-i-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do you ever have one of those days where nothing really goes wrong but you feel like you hate the world and the smallest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-guadalupee/do-you-ever-have-one-of-those-days-where-nothing-really-goes-wrong/) [April Guadalupee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-guadalupee/) > [“Just when you start to like people, they come by and steal your chainsaw just to remind you how much you hate the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jun-li-kanashii/just-when-you-start-to-like-people-they-come-by-and-steal-your/) Jun Li Kanashii > [I hate the world and almost all the people in it. I hate the Labour Congress and the journalists who send men to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-hate-the-world-and-almost-all-the-people-in-it-i-hate-the-labour/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“You know damn well that it doesn’t really matter what’s going on in your life, who you just lost, how much you hate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-redmerski/you-know-damn-well-that-it-doesn-t-really-matter-what-s-going-on-in/) [J.A. Redmerski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-redmerski/) > [I choose to surround myself with happy human beings. I went through the angsty period. I think every single person does. I think it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shailene-woodley/i-choose-to-surround-myself-with-happy-human-beings-i-went-through/) [Shailene Woodley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shailene-woodley/) ## More by Robinson Jeffers > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“While this America settles in the mould of its vulgarity, heavily thickening to empire, I And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/while-this-america-settles-in-the-mould-of-its-vulgarity-heavily/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [Happy people die whole, they are all dissolved in a moment, they have had what they wanted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/happy-people-die-whole-they-are-all-dissolved-in-a-moment-they-have/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“The Atlantic is a stormy moat, and the Mediterranean, The blue pool in the old garden, More than five thousand years has drunk sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/the-atlantic-is-a-stormy-moat-and-the-mediterranean-the-blue-pool-in/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder, The wing trails like a banner in defeat, No more to use the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/the-broken-pillar-of-the-wing-jags-from-the-clotted-shoulder-the-wing/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [As for me, I would rather be a worm in a wild apple than a son of man. But we are what we are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/as-for-me-i-would-rather-be-a-worm-in-a-wild-apple-than-a-son-of-man/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [Oh heavy change. The world deteriorates like a rotting apple, worms and a skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/oh-heavy-change-the-world-deteriorates-like-a-rotting-apple-worms-and/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [Truly men hate the truth; they'd liefer meet a tiger on the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/truly-men-hate-the-truth-they-d-liefer-meet-a-tiger-on-the-road/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [I've changed my ways a little, I cannot now Run with you in the evenings along the shore, Except in a kind of dream,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/i-ve-changed-my-ways-a-little-i-cannot-now-run-with-you-in-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [Why does insanity always twist the great answers? Because only tormented persons want truth. Man is an animal like other animals, wants food and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/why-does-insanity-always-twist-the-great-answers-because-only/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“One existence, one music, one organism, one life, one God: star-fire and rock-strength, the sea's cold flow And man's dark soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/one-existence-one-music-one-organism-one-life-one-god-star-fire-and/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [We might remember ... not to fear death; it is the only way to be cleansed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/we-might-remember-not-to-fear-death-it-is-the-only-way-to-be-cleansed/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [Hear the music, the thunder of the wings. Love the wild swan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/hear-the-music-the-thunder-of-the-wings-love-the-wild-swan/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [If millions are born millions must die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/if-millions-are-born-millions-must-die/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [That public men publish falsehoods Is nothing new. That America must accept Like the historical republics corruption and empire Has been known for years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/that-public-men-publish-falsehoods-is-nothing-new-that-america-must/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) [Explore all 79 Robinson Jeffers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) ## 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": "“Never blame the man: his hard-pressed Ancestors formed him: the other anthropoid apes were safe In the great southern rain-forest and hardly changed In a million years: but the race of man was made By shock and agony… … a wound was made in the brain When life became too hard, and has never healed. 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