--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Apes had it worked out. No ape would…" description: "\"Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, \"The mountain is, and is not.\" They would think, \"The banana is. I will eat the banana. There is no ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/terry-pratchett-19_apes_apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-phil_142945.jpg" --- # Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The… ![“Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat the banana. There is no banana. I want another banana.” quote by Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/terry-pratchett-19_apes_apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-phil_142945.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/terry-pratchett-19_apes_apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-phil_142945.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/terry-pratchett-19_apes_apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-phil_142945.jpg) > “Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat the banana. There is no banana. I want another banana.” [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights a pragmatic, action‑oriented mindset versus abstract philosophical rumination, emphasizing focus on concrete goals. **In simple terms:** Focus on practical actions rather than endless speculation. Key Takeaway Prioritize tangible results over idle thought. Themes pragmatism goal‑orientation mindset Mood determined practical Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - daily tasks - decision making - resource allocation - goal setting Key Concepts action concreteness desire Questions to Reflect On - What concrete goal are you neglecting due to overthinking? - How can you balance action with reflection? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper understanding that can inform better choices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ape Philosophize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ape-philosophize-1611102/) [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Apes Worked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes-worked-1611101/) [Bananas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bananas/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Think Banana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-banana-1611103/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Worked Ape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worked-ape-1611104/) ## Related quotes > [“I do, however, get along fine with apes and I have worked sack of potatoes in front of the camera. Trainers tell me they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-price/i-do-however-get-along-fine-with-apes-and-i-have-worked-sack-of/) [Vincent Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-price/) > [Come on... I'm just a fruit.. what else do you think of me?? - BANANA (o.O)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/come-on-i-m-just-a-fruit-what-else-do-you-think-of-me-banana-o-o/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you're thinking about something that you don't understand, you have a terrible, uncomfortable feeling called confusion... Now, is the confusion's because we're all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/when-you-re-thinking-about-something-that-you-don-t-understand-you/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [Not a superman who stumbles, but an ape with makeshift manners in whose nickel-plated jungles roam mechanical bananas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tenn/not-a-superman-who-stumbles-but-an-ape-with-makeshift-manners-in/) [William Tenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tenn/) > [Any ape can reach for a banana, but only humans can reach for the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-ape-can-reach-for-a-banana-but-only-humans-can-reach-for-the-stars/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I did some writing for that movie. The remake of Planet of the Apes. I didn't write the script. But I wrote some lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-regan/i-did-some-writing-for-that-movie-the-remake-of-planet-of-the-apes-i/) [Brian Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-regan/) > [Nanny Ogg knew how to start spelling 'banana', but didn't know how you stopped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/nanny-ogg-knew-how-to-start-spelling-banana-but-didn-t-know-how-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A good banana daiquiri is hard to come by. I've only ever found one place in this country that makes a proper one, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-good-banana-daiquiri-is-hard-to-come-by-i-ve-only-ever-found-one/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Banana daiquiris aren't knock-'em-back-by-the-flagon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/banana-daiquiris-aren-t-knock-em-back-by-the-flagon/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Soon to come in licorice, orange, cinnamon, and banana, but not strawberry, because I hate strawberries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/soon-to-come-in-licorice-orange-cinnamon-and-banana-but-not/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [If you try to to take my bananas from me, I will reclaim them from your cold dead hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/if-you-try-to-to-take-my-bananas-from-me-i-will-reclaim-them-from/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [What is magic? There is the wizard's explanation... wizards talk about candles, circles, planets, stars, bananas, chants, runes and the importance of having at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/what-is-magic-there-is-the-wizard-s-explanation-wizards-talk-about/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [ASTONISHING, said Death. REALLY ASTONISHING. LET ME PUT FORWARD ANOTHER SUGGESTION: THAT YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A LUCKY SPECIES OF APE THAT IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/astonishing-said-death-really-astonishing-let-me-put-forward-another/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [You have the effrontery to be squeamish, it thought at him. But we were dragons. We were supposed to be cruel, cunning, heartless and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-have-the-effrontery-to-be-squeamish-it-thought-at-him-but-we-were/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I'd rather be a rising ape than a falling angel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-d-rather-be-a-rising-ape-than-a-falling-angel/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## More by Terry Pratchett > [“This one’s mental.’ ‘Eccentric.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘A bag of cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/this-one-s-mental-eccentric-what-s-the-difference-a-bag-of-cash/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“But I did not return until half past four this morning and I distinctly remember stubbing my toe on the stairs. I am as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-i-did-not-return-until-half-past-four-this-morning-and-i/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Someone broke from the scrum and, punching and kicking, staggered towards the Klatchian goal. "Isn't that man your butler?" said Ahmed. "Yes." "One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/someone-broke-from-the-scrum-and-punching-and-kicking-staggered/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [You can't trust folk songs. They always sneak up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-can-t-trust-folk-songs-they-always-sneak-up-on-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Magrat wondered what it was like, spending your whole life doing something you didn’t want to do. Like being dead, she considered, only worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/magrat-wondered-what-it-was-like-spending-your-whole-life-doing/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A hardback's harder at Christmas time because that's a good hardback buying time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-hardback-s-harder-at-christmas-time-because-that-s-a-good-hardback/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There were more old people. The world was full of them,' said the wizard. 'Yes, I know. And now it's full of young people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-were-more-old-people-the-world-was-full-of-them-said-the-wizard/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Hobson was big and heavyset, but not exactly fat; he was probably what you’d get if you shaved a bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/hobson-was-big-and-heavyset-but-not-exactly-fat-he-was-probably-what/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“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/) > [“You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-d-like-freedom-truth-and-justice-wouldn-t-you-comrade-sergeant/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You are not apprehensive, are you? I can't detect no trace of fear none whatsoever Roomy cranium all possible videos of all possible outcomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-are-not-apprehensive-are-you-i-can-t-detect-no-trace-of-fear-none/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/imagination-not-intelligence-made-us-human/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Explore all 3,328 Terry Pratchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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/) > [What we, thanks to Jung, call "synchronicity" (coincidence on steroids), Buddhists have long known as "the interpenetration of realities." Whether it's a natural law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/what-we-thanks-to-jung-call-synchronicity-coincidence-on-steroids/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, \"The mountain is, and is not.\" They would think, \"The banana is. I will eat the banana. There is no banana. 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