---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man snaps his fingers every few…"
description: "\"“A man snaps his fingers every few moments. When asked why he does it he replies ‘I do it – snap – to keep the – snap – elephants away.’ ‘But there are..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7d/t-w-k-rner-101811_thousand-miles_a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moment_2693395.jpg"
---

#  A man snaps his fingers every few moments. When asked why…

![“A man snaps his fingers every few moments. When asked why he does it he replies ‘I do it – snap – to keep the – snap – elephants away.’ ‘But there are no elephants within a thousand miles of here.’ ‘Yes – snap – you see how – snap – effective it is.” quote by T.W. Körner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7d/t-w-k-rner-101811_thousand-miles_a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moment_2693395.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7d/t-w-k-rner-101811_thousand-miles_a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moment_2693395.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7d/t-w-k-rner-101811_thousand-miles_a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moment_2693395.jpg)

> ““A man snaps his fingers every few moments. When asked why he does it he replies ‘I do it – snap – to keep the – snap – elephants away.’ ‘But there are no elephants within a thousand miles of here.’ ‘Yes – snap – you see how – snap – effective it is.””

T.W. Körner

## About This Quote

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

The speaker jokes that snapping fingers keeps elephants away, despite there being none nearby, illustrating absurd rationalizations.

**In simple terms:** Absurd logic used to justify a habit.

Key Takeaway

Question the logic behind habits.

Themes

absurdity logic habit humor rationalization

Mood

playful ironic

Type

humorous philosophical

When to use this quote

- daily routines
- superstitions
- social interaction

Key Concepts

cognitive bias behavioral patterns critical thinking

Questions to Reflect On

- Why do you cling to illogical habits?
- What evidence supports your actions?

A Different Perspective

Habit may be harmless but irrational.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/)

## Related quotes

> [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-ve-seen-the-devil-of-violence-and-the-devil-of-greed-and-the-devil/)

[Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/)

> [But you'd have to walk a thousand miles In my shoes, just to see What it's like, to be me I'll be you, let's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/but-you-d-have-to-walk-a-thousand-miles-in-my-shoes-just-to-see-what/)

[Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/)

> [“The money that could have saved the Shuttle, and the money we send to random countries, that we use to remake unchangeable countries ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/the-money-that-could-have-saved-the-shuttle-and-the-money-we-send-to/)

[Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/)

> [“The last time I’d been unwell, suicidally depressed, whatever you want to call it, the reactions of my friends and family had fallen into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/the-last-time-i-d-been-unwell-suicidally-depressed-whatever-you-want/)

[Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/)

> [I walked a thousand miles just to slip this skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-walked-a-thousand-miles-just-to-slip-this-skin/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

> [“So, fiancé is it, now? I guess it was easier to say than to say she is the woman who took off on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morgan/so-fianc-is-it-now-i-guess-it-was-easier-to-say-than-to-say-she-is/)

[Alex Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morgan/)

> [“The journy of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/master-sheng-yen/the-journy-of-a-thousand-miles-starts-beneath-your-feet/)

Master Sheng Yen

> [Maybe it's important to open up I people- people who are right there with you, not some thousand miles away in another universe. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-lee-o-malley/maybe-it-s-important-to-open-up-i-people-people-who-are-right-there/)

[Bryan Lee O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-lee-o-malley/)

> [“Your brain… weighs three pounds and has one hundred thousand miles of blood vessels. contains more connections than there are stars in the Milky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-perlmutter/your-brain-weighs-three-pounds-and-has-one-hundred-thousand-miles-of/)

[David Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-perlmutter/)

> [“I hesitate, then put my other hand on top of his. We're partners. Always have been, even when I hate him, when he's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pearce/i-hesitate-then-put-my-other-hand-on-top-of-his-we-re-partners-always/)

[Jackson Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pearce/)

> [“We had moved there, three years earlier, leaving behind our family home which was situated in the township of another state, over a thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kahler/we-had-moved-there-three-years-earlier-leaving-behind-our-family-home/)

[Katrina Kahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kahler/)

> [“What does Africa — what does the West stand for? Is not our own interior white on the chart? black though it may prove,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-does-africa-what-does-the-west-stand-for-is-not-our-own-interior/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/)

[Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/)

> [I would walk a thousand miles To feel your hugs and see your smiles But then one day we had to part The hardest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-collins/i-would-walk-a-thousand-miles-to-feel-your-hugs-and-see-your-smiles/)

[Gail Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-collins/)

## More by T.W. Körner

> [“I believe that a willingness to ask when they do not know is a characteristic of many great minds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-w-k-rner/i-believe-that-a-willingness-to-ask-when-they-do-not-know-is-a/)

T.W. Körner

Explore all 2 T.W. Körner quotes

## More Thousand miles quotes

> [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/)

[Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/)

> [“What does Africa — what does the West stand for? Is not our own interior white on the chart? black though it may prove,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-does-africa-what-does-the-west-stand-for-is-not-our-own-interior/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [“We had moved there, three years earlier, leaving behind our family home which was situated in the township of another state, over a thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kahler/we-had-moved-there-three-years-earlier-leaving-behind-our-family-home/)

[Katrina Kahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kahler/)

> [“I hesitate, then put my other hand on top of his. We're partners. Always have been, even when I hate him, when he's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pearce/i-hesitate-then-put-my-other-hand-on-top-of-his-we-re-partners-always/)

[Jackson Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pearce/)

> [“Your brain… weighs three pounds and has one hundred thousand miles of blood vessels. contains more connections than there are stars in the Milky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-perlmutter/your-brain-weighs-three-pounds-and-has-one-hundred-thousand-miles-of/)

[David Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-perlmutter/)

> [Maybe it's important to open up I people- people who are right there with you, not some thousand miles away in another universe. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-lee-o-malley/maybe-it-s-important-to-open-up-i-people-people-who-are-right-there/)

[Bryan Lee O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-lee-o-malley/)

> [“The journy of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/master-sheng-yen/the-journy-of-a-thousand-miles-starts-beneath-your-feet/)

Master Sheng Yen

> [“So, fiancé is it, now? I guess it was easier to say than to say she is the woman who took off on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morgan/so-fianc-is-it-now-i-guess-it-was-easier-to-say-than-to-say-she-is/)

[Alex Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morgan/)

> [I walked a thousand miles just to slip this skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-walked-a-thousand-miles-just-to-slip-this-skin/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

> [“The last time I’d been unwell, suicidally depressed, whatever you want to call it, the reactions of my friends and family had fallen into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/the-last-time-i-d-been-unwell-suicidally-depressed-whatever-you-want/)

[Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/)

> [“The money that could have saved the Shuttle, and the money we send to random countries, that we use to remake unchangeable countries ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/the-money-that-could-have-saved-the-shuttle-and-the-money-we-send-to/)

[Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/)

> [But you'd have to walk a thousand miles In my shoes, just to see What it's like, to be me I'll be you, let's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/but-you-d-have-to-walk-a-thousand-miles-in-my-shoes-just-to-see-what/)

[Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/)

> [“I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-ve-seen-the-devil-of-violence-and-the-devil-of-greed-and-the-devil/)

[Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/)

> [I would walk a thousand miles To feel your hugs and see your smiles But then one day we had to part The hardest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-collins/i-would-walk-a-thousand-miles-to-feel-your-hugs-and-see-your-smiles/)

[Gail Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-collins/)

Browse all 378 Thousand miles quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“A man snaps his fingers every few moments. When asked why he does it he replies ‘I do it – snap – to keep the – snap – elephants away.’ ‘But there are no elephants within a thousand miles of here.’ ‘Yes – snap – you see how – snap – effective it is.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "T.W. Körner"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-w-k-rner/a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moments-when-asked-why-he-does-it/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Thousand miles"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-w-k-rner/a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moments-when-asked-why-he-does-it/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7d/t-w-k-rner-101811_thousand-miles_a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moment_2693395.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7d/t-w-k-rner-101811_thousand-miles_a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moment_2693395.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7d/t-w-k-rner-101811_thousand-miles_a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moment_2693395.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A man snaps his fingers every few moments. When asked why he does it he replies ‘I do it – snap – to keep…” — T.W. Körner",
                "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": "T.W. Körner",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-w-k-rner/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“A man snaps his fingers every...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-w-k-rner/a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moments-when-asked-why-he-does-it/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-w-k-rner/a-man-snaps-his-fingers-every-few-moments-when-asked-why-he-does-it/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
