--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unlike features of a landscape like trees…" description: "\"“Unlike features of a landscape like trees and mountains, people have feet. They move to places where opportunities are best, and they soon invite thei..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/steven-pinker-526_friends-and-relative_unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-tree_1583928.jpg" --- # Unlike features of a landscape like trees and mountains… ![“Unlike features of a landscape like trees and mountains, people have feet. They move to places where opportunities are best, and they soon invite their friends and relatives to join them.” quote by Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/steven-pinker-526_friends-and-relative_unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-tree_1583928.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/steven-pinker-526_friends-and-relative_unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-tree_1583928.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/steven-pinker-526_friends-and-relative_unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-tree_1583928.jpg) > ““Unlike features of a landscape like trees and mountains, people have feet. They move to places where opportunities are best, and they soon invite their friends and relatives to join them.”” [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People migrate toward better opportunities, and their movement attracts others to follow, shaping demographic patterns. **In simple terms:** People go where chances are good and bring others along. Key Takeaway Seek and share opportunities. Themes migration opportunity social networks Mood optimistic analytical Type sociological observational When to use this quote - career moves - urbanization - family relocation - entrepreneurial hubs Key Concepts economics human behavior geography Questions to Reflect On - What opportunities drive your relocation? - How does your network influence your moves? A Different Perspective Migration can strain resources and create cultural tensions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Friends And Relatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-and-relatives/) ## Related quotes > [I always had my feet in two places when I was doing amateur dance in Seattle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-reinking/i-always-had-my-feet-in-two-places-when-i-was-doing-amateur-dance-in/) [Ann Reinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-reinking/) > [Some people never get their feet on the ground, They're either sitting in a chair or theyre laying down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/some-people-never-get-their-feet-on-the-ground-they-re-either-sitting/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [I have the same pet peeve as Anderson Cooper, which is bare feet in public. I hate it. It so grosses me out, especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/busy-philipps/i-have-the-same-pet-peeve-as-anderson-cooper-which-is-bare-feet-in/) [Busy Philipps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/busy-philipps/) > [You don't get on your feet if you don't have to, you know. And these people were on their feet rockin', and that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-nash/you-don-t-get-on-your-feet-if-you-don-t-have-to-you-know-and-these/) [Graham Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-nash/) > [You can't sweep other people off their feet, if you can't be swept off your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-day/you-can-t-sweep-other-people-off-their-feet-if-you-can-t-be-swept-off/) [Clarence Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-day/) > [“But neither the mountains nor the people can rob you of the forgiveness God has given...unless you let them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mesu-andrews/but-neither-the-mountains-nor-the-people-can-rob-you-of-the/) [Mesu Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mesu-andrews/) > [If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-weir/if-a-hiker-gets-lost-in-the-mountains-people-will-coordinate-a-search/) [Andy Weir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-weir/) > [“Despite the recurrence of events in which the debris-basin system fails in its struggle to contain the falling mountains, people who live on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcphee/despite-the-recurrence-of-events-in-which-the-debris-basin-system/) [John McPhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcphee/) > [“Joy – in the fall, winter, and always in the mountains where people are few, wildlife is abundant and there is peace in the quiet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/joy-in-the-fall-winter-and-always-in-the-mountains-where-people-are/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [“She had never seen an atom and never wanted to, because the idea of mountains and people being just different arrangements of things of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-moore/she-had-never-seen-an-atom-and-never-wanted-to-because-the-idea-of/) [Pamela Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-moore/) > [“The Bean house stands empty. All through the mountains people whisper of it, and shake their heads.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-key/the-bean-house-stands-empty-all-through-the-mountains-people-whisper/) [Alexander Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-key/) > [Faith, indeed, has up to the present not been able to move real mountains… But it can put mountains where there are none. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-orben/faith-indeed-has-up-to-the-present-not-been-able-to-move-real-2/) [Robert Orben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-orben/) > [The advice would be the same for any kind of fiction. Keep writing, and keep sending things out, not to friends and relatives, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-saberhagen/the-advice-would-be-the-same-for-any-kind-of-fiction-keep-writing-and/) [Fred Saberhagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-saberhagen/) > [Life is precious Life is a god sent gift and it is your duty to live it to the full. You might face several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaile-stewart/life-is-precious-life-is-a-god-sent-gift-and-it-is-your-duty-to-live/) [Kaile Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaile-stewart/) > [“The woman knows from living with the abusive man that there are no simple answers. Friends say: “He’s mean.” But she knows many ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lundy-bancroft/the-woman-knows-from-living-with-the-abusive-man-that-there-are-no/) [Lundy Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lundy-bancroft/) ## More by Steven Pinker > [Forcing modern speakers of English to not - whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn't done in Latin makes about as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/forcing-modern-speakers-of-english-to-not-whoops-not-to-split-an/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Consistent style prevents presentation from getting in the way of content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/consistent-style-prevents-presentation-from-getting-in-the-way-of/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [The supposedly immaterial soul, we now know, can be bisected with a knife, altered by chemicals, started or stopped by electricity, and extinguished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-supposedly-immaterial-soul-we-now-know-can-be-bisected-with-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [I've never argued that humans are massively hot-wired. What I was trying to point out was that you can't understand how we learn unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/i-ve-never-argued-that-humans-are-massively-hot-wired-what-i-was/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [As many political writers have pointed out, commitment to political equality is not an empirical claim that people are clones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/as-many-political-writers-have-pointed-out-commitment-to-political/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Since violence is largely a male pastime, cultures that empower women tend to move away from the glorification of violence and are less likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/since-violence-is-largely-a-male-pastime-cultures-that-empower-women/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [When it comes to explaining human thought and behavior, the possibility that heredity plays any role at all still has the power to shock.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/when-it-comes-to-explaining-human-thought-and-behavior-the/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Morality is not just any old topic in psychology but close to our conception of the meaning of life. Moral goodness is what gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/morality-is-not-just-any-old-topic-in-psychology-but-close-to-our/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“The biblical story of the binding of Isaac shows that human sacrifice was far from unthinkable in the 1st millennium BCE. The Israelites boasted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-biblical-story-of-the-binding-of-isaac-shows-that-human-sacrifice/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Part of the bargain of being alive is that one takes a chance at dying a premature or painful death, be it from violence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/part-of-the-bargain-of-being-alive-is-that-one-takes-a-chance-at/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [In fact, without a specification of a creature's goals, the very idea of intelligence is meaningless. A toadstool could be given a genius award…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/in-fact-without-a-specification-of-a-creature-s-goals-the-very-idea/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“The obvious cure for the tragic shortcomings of human intuition in a high-tech world is education. And this offers priorities for educational policy: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-obvious-cure-for-the-tragic-shortcomings-of-human-intuition-in-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [If you look in general at people who live in anarchy, they have quite high rates of death from either homicide or warfare or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/if-you-look-in-general-at-people-who-live-in-anarchy-they-have-quite/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“In some eras, self-control defines the paragon of a decent person: a grown-up, a person of dignity, a lady or a gentleman, a mensch.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/in-some-eras-self-control-defines-the-paragon-of-a-decent-person-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Knowledge is a continuous fabric, in which ideas are connected to other ideas. Reason-free zones, in which people can assert arbitrary beliefs safe from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/knowledge-is-a-continuous-fabric-in-which-ideas-are-connected-to/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) [Explore all 495 Steven Pinker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) ## More Friends And Relatives quotes > [“The woman knows from living with the abusive man that there are no simple answers. Friends say: “He’s mean.” But she knows many ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lundy-bancroft/the-woman-knows-from-living-with-the-abusive-man-that-there-are-no/) [Lundy Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lundy-bancroft/) > [Life is precious Life is a god sent gift and it is your duty to live it to the full. You might face several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaile-stewart/life-is-precious-life-is-a-god-sent-gift-and-it-is-your-duty-to-live/) [Kaile Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaile-stewart/) > [The advice would be the same for any kind of fiction. Keep writing, and keep sending things out, not to friends and relatives, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-saberhagen/the-advice-would-be-the-same-for-any-kind-of-fiction-keep-writing-and/) [Fred Saberhagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-saberhagen/) > [“We are a rotating cast of aspects of self that are shown to one person, or in one setting, and hidden in another. Memorial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-haskell/we-are-a-rotating-cast-of-aspects-of-self-that-are-shown-to-one/) [Molly Haskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-haskell/) > [But there's the paradox of fiction - why do you cry when a fake character dies? It's the basis of art. You engage with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gruber/but-there-s-the-paradox-of-fiction-why-do-you-cry-when-a-fake/) [Michael Gruber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gruber/) > [Our dad hugged us and kissed us so much that some friends and relatives complained that he was going to turn us into sissies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezekiel-emanuel/our-dad-hugged-us-and-kissed-us-so-much-that-some-friends-and/) [Ezekiel Emanuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezekiel-emanuel/) > [“Business succeed when friends and relatives pays their bills promptly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdulazeez-henry-musa/business-succeed-when-friends-and-relatives-pays-their-bills-promptly/) [Abdulazeez Henry Musa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdulazeez-henry-musa/) > [“Friends say: “He’s mean.” But she knows many ways in which he has been good to her. Friends say: “He treats you that way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lundy-bancroft/friends-say-he-s-mean-but-she-knows-many-ways-in-which-he-has-been/) [Lundy Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lundy-bancroft/) > [It is rare that we use our thinking faculty as resolutely as an irishman his spade. To please our friends and relatives we turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/it-is-rare-that-we-use-our-thinking-faculty-as-resolutely-as-an/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“People are not controlled by some internal calculator that crudely motivates them to maximize their reproductive success. Instead, people form deep, lifelong emotional attachments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randolph-m-nesse/people-are-not-controlled-by-some-internal-calculator-that-crudely/) [Randolph M. Nesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randolph-m-nesse/) > [“Just across from Bismarck stood Fort Lincoln where friends and relatives of Custer’s dead cavalrymen still lived, and these emigrating Sioux could perceive such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-s-connell/just-across-from-bismarck-stood-fort-lincoln-where-friends-and/) [Evan S. Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-s-connell/) > [I think that Scottish people, like Canadians, are often misunderstood and what I like about my Scottish friends and relatives is how quickly it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/i-think-that-scottish-people-like-canadians-are-often-misunderstood/) [Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/) > [“They had managed to convert their wealth, which had originally been in the form of factories or stores or other demanding enterprises, into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/they-had-managed-to-convert-their-wealth-which-had-originally-been-in/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“What Hurts the People There are five things that hurt the people: There are local officials who use public office for personal benefit, taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/what-hurts-the-people-there-are-five-things-that-hurt-the-people/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“Someone has said that no theology is worth believing that cannot be preached standing in front of the gates of Auschwitz. I, for one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-e-olson/someone-has-said-that-no-theology-is-worth-believing-that-cannot-be/) [Roger E. Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-e-olson/) [Browse all 53 Friends And Relatives quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-and-relatives/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Unlike features of a landscape like trees and mountains, people have feet. They move to places where opportunities are best, and they soon invite their friends and relatives to join them.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Steven Pinker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-trees-and-mountains-people-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Friends And Relatives" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-trees-and-mountains-people-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/steven-pinker-526_friends-and-relative_unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-tree_1583928.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/steven-pinker-526_friends-and-relative_unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-tree_1583928.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/steven-pinker-526_friends-and-relative_unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-tree_1583928.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Unlike features of a landscape like trees and mountains, people have feet. They move to places where…” — Steven Pinker", "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": "Steven Pinker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Unlike features of a landscape like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-trees-and-mountains-people-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/unlike-features-of-a-landscape-like-trees-and-mountains-people-have/#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 } } ] } ```