--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For me, the glory of the human animal is…" description: "\"For me, the glory of the human animal is cognitive activity.\" — Terence McKenna" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/terence-mckenna-287_activity_for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is_2317622.png" --- # For me, the glory of the human animal is cognitive activity. ![“For me, the glory of the human animal is cognitive activity.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/terence-mckenna-287_activity_for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is_2317622.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/terence-mckenna-287_activity_for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is_2317622.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/terence-mckenna-287_activity_for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is_2317622.png) > “For me, the glory of the human animal is cognitive activity.” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human greatness lies in our capacity for thought and self‑reflection. **In simple terms:** Cognition defines humanity. Key Takeaway Cultivate deep thinking. Themes philosophy human nature intelligence Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - personal development - creative work - scientific research Key Concepts cognitive activity consciousness evolution Questions to Reflect On - How do you nurture your cognitive abilities? - What role does emotion play in cognition? A Different Perspective Intellectual activity can be limited by bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animal Cognitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal-cognitive-5527937/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Cognitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cognitive/) [Cognitive Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cognitive-activity-1282904/) [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Glory Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory-human-2836757/) [Human animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-animal/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) ## Related quotes > [“We have a very hard time “seeing” our cognitive activity because it is the medium in which we swim. The attempt to put our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-r-hofstadter/we-have-a-very-hard-time-seeing-our-cognitive-activity-because-it-is/) [Douglas R. Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-r-hofstadter/) > [Why should a person come to the cross? Why should a person embrace death? With Christ? Because it's the only way that God can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paris-reidhead/why-should-a-person-come-to-the-cross-why-should-a-person-embrace/) [Paris Reidhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paris-reidhead/) > [What's popularly known as the evolution of consciousness, in other words that the expansion of cognitive repertoire that occurs in human beings, which has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-s-popularly-known-as-the-evolution-of-consciousness-in-other/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [All psychedelic explorers should be aware of the concept of what is called a cognitive hallucination. The is a much more insidious phenomenon. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/all-psychedelic-explorers-should-be-aware-of-the-concept-of-what-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Increased physical activity during the school day can help children's attention, classroom behavior, and achievement test scores. Meanwhile, the decline of play is closely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darell-hammond/increased-physical-activity-during-the-school-day-can-help-children-s/) [Darell Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darell-hammond/) > [The emergence of a unified cognitive moment relies on the coordination of scattered mosaics of functionally specialized brain regions. Here we review the mechanisms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-varela/the-emergence-of-a-unified-cognitive-moment-relies-on-the/) [Francisco Varela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francisco-varela/) > [Both human and animal emotions are slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/both-human-and-animal-emotions-are-slaves/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“Lurking behind this connecting silence is a brooding suspicion over the extent to which the perceptual user-preferences of the human animal limit and distort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-paterson/lurking-behind-this-connecting-silence-is-a-brooding-suspicion-over/) [Don Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-paterson/) > [“The human animal needs meaning as well as food and air and sex and water. The sense that life is meaningless is at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/the-human-animal-needs-meaning-as-well-as-food-and-air-and-sex-and/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [ The human animal, like others, is adapted to a certain amount of struggle for life \[and\] the mere absence of effort from his life… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-human-animal-like-others-is-adapted-to-a-certain-amount-of/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The human animal is adapted to, and apparently can thrive on, an extraordinary range of different diets, but the Western diet, however you define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-human-animal-is-adapted-to-and-apparently-can-thrive-on-an/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Clothes don't make the man, but they make all of him except his hands and face during business hours, and that's a pretty considerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-horace-lorimer/clothes-don-t-make-the-man-but-they-make-all-of-him-except-his-hands/) [George Horace Lorimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-horace-lorimer/) > [ “The \[human\] animal cannot cope with \[dense confinement\]; indeed, it is programmed to resist it. It must resist it, in the interest of survival.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-livingston-from-rogue-primate-an-investigation-into-human-domestication/the-human-animal-cannot-cope-with-dense-confinement-indeed-it-is/) [John Livingston, from "Rogue Primate: An Investigation Into Human Domestication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-livingston-from-rogue-primate-an-investigation-into-human-domestication/) > [There's a spiritual bond that connects all Souls: human, animal, and lower forms of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-klemp/there-s-a-spiritual-bond-that-connects-all-souls-human-animal-and/) [Harold Klemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-klemp/) > [The human animal originally came from out-of-doors. When spring begins to move in his bones, he just must get out again. Moreover, as civilization,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/the-human-animal-originally-came-from-out-of-doors-when-spring-begins/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For me, the glory of the human animal is cognitive activity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terence McKenna" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is-cognitive-activity/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Activity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is-cognitive-activity/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/terence-mckenna-287_activity_for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is_2317622.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/terence-mckenna-287_activity_for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is_2317622.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/terence-mckenna-287_activity_for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is_2317622.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For me, the glory of the human animal is cognitive activity.” — Terence McKenna", "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": "Terence McKenna", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For me, the glory of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is-cognitive-activity/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/for-me-the-glory-of-the-human-animal-is-cognitive-activity/#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 } } ] } ```