--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is an angel within the monkey…" description: "\"There is an angel within the monkey struggling to get free, and this is what the historical crisis is all about.\" — Terence McKenna" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/terence-mckenna-287_angel_there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-stru_3119411.png" --- # There is an angel within the monkey struggling to get… ![“There is an angel within the monkey struggling to get free, and this is what the historical crisis is all about.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/terence-mckenna-287_angel_there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-stru_3119411.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/terence-mckenna-287_angel_there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-stru_3119411.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/terence-mckenna-287_angel_there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-stru_3119411.png) > “There is an angel within the monkey struggling to get free, and this is what the historical crisis is all about.” [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 progress is hindered by internal constraints; freeing the mind is essential. **In simple terms:** Free the mind to evolve. Key Takeaway Challenge inner limits. Themes growth freedom consciousness Mood inspirational provocative Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - creative work - social reform - personal development Key Concepts psychology evolutionary theory Questions to Reflect On - What internal ' hold you back? - How can you release them? A Different Perspective Inner barriers are hard to overcome without effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Angel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angel/) [Angel Monkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angel-monkey-4172456/) [Crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crisis/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Historical Crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-crisis-5470284/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Monkey Struggling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkey-struggling-5470283/) [Monkeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkeys/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Struggling Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggling-free-1543221/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm your guardian angel, not your monkey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-ridley/i-m-your-guardian-angel-not-your-monkey/) [Erica Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-ridley/) > [Struggling against yourself to free yourself interfering in others affairs is exhausting in the beginning, but easy at the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-al-arifi/struggling-against-yourself-to-free-yourself-interfering-in-others/) [Dr Al-Arifi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-al-arifi/) > [“She's a strong woman. She has wings under her armour struggling to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/verliza-gajeles/she-s-a-strong-woman-she-has-wings-under-her-armour-struggling-to-be/) [Verliza Gajeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/verliza-gajeles/) > [Fighting for one's freedom, struggling towards being free, is like struggling to be a poet or a good Christian or a good Jew or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/fighting-for-one-s-freedom-struggling-towards-being-free-is-like/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“Bound only by the paper-thin wrapper of mortality, a soul here lies, struggling to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ingerson/bound-only-by-the-paper-thin-wrapper-of-mortality-a-soul-here-lies/) [Eric Ingerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ingerson/) > [O wretched state! O bosom black as death! O limed soul that, struggling to be free, art more engaged! Help, angels! Make assay! Bow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-wretched-state-o-bosom-black-as-death-o-limed-soul-that-struggling/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I believe I was a codependent out of the womb and have been struggling to free myself from its vice-like grip for many, many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-de-cadenet/i-believe-i-was-a-codependent-out-of-the-womb-and-have-been/) [Amanda de Cadenet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-de-cadenet/) > [I tried so hard. I tried my best. I gave you my all, and now there's nothing left. You stole my heart, then tore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-bassam/i-tried-so-hard-i-tried-my-best-i-gave-you-my-all-and-now-there-s/) [Ali Bassam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-bassam/) > [“Being free is as difficult and as perpetual — or rather fighting for one’s freedom, struggling towards being free, is like struggling to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/being-free-is-as-difficult-and-as-perpetual-or-rather-fighting-for/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I think with the work we do with these drugs we are the earliest pioneers in what over the next 100 years will lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-think-with-the-work-we-do-with-these-drugs-we-are-the-earliest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We're not going to save the monkey unless we can shed the monkey. And the greatest impetus, the greatest inspiration to the expression of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-re-not-going-to-save-the-monkey-unless-we-can-shed-the-monkey-and/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [My voice speaking is a monkey's mouth making little mouth noises that are carrying agree-upon meaning, and it is meaning that matters. Without the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/my-voice-speaking-is-a-monkey-s-mouth-making-little-mouth-noises-that/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [For talking monkeys to speak of truth is hubris of the highest degree. Where is it writ large that talking monkeys should be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/for-talking-monkeys-to-speak-of-truth-is-hubris-of-the-highest-degree/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are creatures of information and the imagination. The monkey we are already beginning to transform and shed. We don't look like the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-creatures-of-information-and-the-imagination-the-monkey-we-are/) [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/) ## 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 Angel quotes > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [If I wer an angel,i would make all your wishes come true..but I'm only a girl a girl who loves you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nix/if-i-wer-an-angel-i-would-make-all-your-wishes-come-true-but-i-m-only/) [Nix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nix/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Behind my eyelids, I saw him dancing in spirals of coloured light, emerald, blue, and brilliant purple, enfolding him like the wings of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-hall/behind-my-eyelids-i-saw-him-dancing-in-spirals-of-coloured-light/) [Alexis Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-hall/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I don't think people will ever forget I was an 'Angel,' anymore than they'll forget Sally Field was 'The Flying Nun.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-ladd/i-don-t-think-people-will-ever-forget-i-was-an-angel-anymore-than/) [Cheryl Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-ladd/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [I believe in UFOs, I believe in extraterrestrials, and I believe in angels. And maybe they'll protect all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-believe-in-ufos-i-believe-in-extraterrestrials-and-i-believe-in/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [Sometimes we have the absolute certainty there's something inside us that's so hideous and monstrous that if we ever search it out we won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-selby-jr/sometimes-we-have-the-absolute-certainty-there-s-something-inside-us/) [Hubert Selby, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-selby-jr/) > [Flowers are the alphabet of angels, whereby they write on the hills and fields mysterious truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/flowers-are-the-alphabet-of-angels-whereby-they-write-on-the-hills/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [You should never feel lonely, neglected, fearful, or defeated when you remember that there are the shining ones. They are watching with keen interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flower-a-newhouse/you-should-never-feel-lonely-neglected-fearful-or-defeated-when-you/) [Flower A. Newhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flower-a-newhouse/) > [Hark the herald angels sing, 'Glory to the new-born king.' Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wesley/hark-the-herald-angels-sing-glory-to-the-new-born-king-peace-on-earth/) [Charles Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wesley/) > [Man was created a little lower than the angels and has been getting a little lower ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/man-was-created-a-little-lower-than-the-angels-and-has-been-getting-a/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Mooner was walking around laying his hands on the cars, divining karma. "this is it", he said, standing by a small khaki-colored jeep."this car…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/mooner-was-walking-around-laying-his-hands-on-the-cars-divining-karma/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) [Browse all 4,625 Angel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angel/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is an angel within the monkey struggling to get free, and this is what the historical crisis is all about.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terence McKenna" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-struggling-to-get-free-and-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Angel" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-struggling-to-get-free-and-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/terence-mckenna-287_angel_there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-stru_3119411.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/terence-mckenna-287_angel_there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-stru_3119411.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/terence-mckenna-287_angel_there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-stru_3119411.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is an angel within the monkey struggling to get free, and this is what the historical crisis is all…” — 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": "There is an angel within the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-struggling-to-get-free-and-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/there-is-an-angel-within-the-monkey-struggling-to-get-free-and-this/#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 } } ] } ```