--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The main peculiarity which distinguishes…" description: "\"The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other animals is the means of his support-the power which he possesses of very greatly increasing the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/thomas-malthus-7621_animal_the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes_2598019.png" --- # The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other… ![“The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other animals is the means of his support-the power which he possesses of very greatly increasing these means.” quote by Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/thomas-malthus-7621_animal_the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes_2598019.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/thomas-malthus-7621_animal_the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes_2598019.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/thomas-malthus-7621_animal_the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes_2598019.png) > “The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other animals is the means of his support-the power which he possesses of very greatly increasing these means.” [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human uniqueness lies in our ability to vastly expand our means of support. **In simple terms:** Humans can greatly increase their resources. Key Takeaway Innovate to boost resources. Themes economics human nature progress Mood optimistic analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Business development - policy planning - education reform Key Concepts Innovation resource management technology Questions to Reflect On - What means can you expand today? - How do limits affect expansion? A Different Perspective Overreliance on growth can cause inequality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Distinguishes Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinguishes-man-699047/) [Main Peculiarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/main-peculiarity-1920256/) [Man Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-animals-699046/) [Peculiarity Distinguishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peculiarity-distinguishes-1920255/) [Power Possesses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-possesses-922339/) ## Related quotes > [One of the things that distinguishes man from the other animals is that he wants to know things, wants to find out what reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-man-from-the-other-animals-is/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I know at last what distinguishes man from animals; financial worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romain-rolland/i-know-at-last-what-distinguishes-man-from-animals-financial-worries/) [Romain Rolland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romain-rolland/) > [What is it that distinguishes man from animals? It is not his upright posture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/what-is-it-that-distinguishes-man-from-animals-it-is-not-his-upright/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-desire-to-take-medicine-is-perhaps-the-greatest-feature-which/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [“He had known that power requires to be used; that the world compels the exercise of power if one possesses it. And that necessity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-neumeier/he-had-known-that-power-requires-to-be-used-that-the-world-compels/) [Rachel Neumeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-neumeier/) > [Power is very much like the wind. It comes and goes; no one really owns it. People are foolish enough to think they possess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/power-is-very-much-like-the-wind-it-comes-and-goes-no-one-really-owns/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Therefore, vegetarianism alone can give us the quality of com-passion, which distinguishes man from the rest of the animal world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morarji-desai/therefore-vegetarianism-alone-can-give-us-the-quality-of-com-passion/) [Morarji Desai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morarji-desai/) > [Literary education must follow the education of the hand -the one gift that distinguishes man from beast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/literary-education-must-follow-the-education-of-the-hand-the-one-gift/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Everything which distinguishes man from the animals depends upon this ability to volatilize perceptual metaphors in a schema, and thus to dissolve an image…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/everything-which-distinguishes-man-from-the-animals-depends-upon-this/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Given that we glimpse what distinguishes man from the beast, is there anything that distinguishes woman from man?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-l-george/given-that-we-glimpse-what-distinguishes-man-from-the-beast-is-there/) [W. L. George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-l-george/) > [Smoke. Smoke. Smoke. Only a pipe distinguishes man from beast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honore-daumier/smoke-smoke-smoke-only-a-pipe-distinguishes-man-from-beast/) [Honore Daumier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honore-daumier/) > [I finally know what distinguishes man from the other beasts: financial worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-renard/i-finally-know-what-distinguishes-man-from-the-other-beasts-financial/) [Jules Renard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-renard/) > [It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/it-is-his-capacity-for-self-improvement-and-self-redemption-which/) [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/) > [That which distinguishes man from the brute is his power, in dealing with Nature, to milk her laws, and make them give forth their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/that-which-distinguishes-man-from-the-brute-is-his-power-in-dealing/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“What distinguishes man from his innocent brothers, the animals,...is not language, nor reason, nor even civilization...it is man's enormous appetite for suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-duhamel/what-distinguishes-man-from-his-innocent-brothers-the-animals-is-not/) [Georges Duhamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-duhamel/) ## More by Thomas Malthus > [On the whole it may be observed, that the specific use of a body of unproductive consumers, is to give encouragement to wealth by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/on-the-whole-it-may-be-observed-that-the-specific-use-of-a-body-of/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-germs-of-existence-contained-in-this-spot-of-earth-with-ample/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The proposition of Mr. Ricardo, which states that a rise in the price of labour lowers the price of a large class of commodities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-proposition-of-mr-ricardo-which-states-that-a-rise-in-the-price/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [Thirty or forty proprietors, with incomes answering to between one thousand and five thousand a year, would create a much more effectual demand for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/thirty-or-forty-proprietors-with-incomes-answering-to-between-one/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [Every endeavor should be used to weaken and destroy all those institutions relating to corporations, apprenticeships, &c, which cause the labours of agriculture to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/every-endeavor-should-be-used-to-weaken-and-destroy-all-those/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [A great emigration necessarily implies unhappiness of some kind or other in the country that is deserted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/a-great-emigration-necessarily-implies-unhappiness-of-some-kind-or/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [If I saw a glass of wine repeatedly presented to a man, and he took no notice of it, I should be apt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/if-i-saw-a-glass-of-wine-repeatedly-presented-to-a-man-and-he-took-no/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-power-of-population-is-indefinitely-greater-than-the-power-in-the/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [ \[P\]opulation, when unchecked, goes on doubling itself every twenty-five years, or increases in a geometrical ratio. ... \[T\]he means of subsistence, under circumstances the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/p-opulation-when-unchecked-goes-on-doubling-itself-every-twenty-five/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [It is not the most pleasant employment to spend eight hours a day in a counting house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/it-is-not-the-most-pleasant-employment-to-spend-eight-hours-a-day-in/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [A writer may tell me that he thinks man will ultimately become an ostrich. I cannot properly contradict him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/a-writer-may-tell-me-that-he-thinks-man-will-ultimately-become-an/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The doctrine of population has been conspicuously absent, not because I doubt in the least its truth and vast importance, but because it forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-doctrine-of-population-has-been-conspicuously-absent-not-because/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [In a state therefore of great equality and virtue, where pure and simple manners prevailed, the increase of the human species would evidently be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/in-a-state-therefore-of-great-equality-and-virtue-where-pure-and/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The greatest talents have been frequently misapplied and have produced evil proportionate to the extent of their powers. Both reason and revelation seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-greatest-talents-have-been-frequently-misapplied-and-have/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [Hard as it may appear in individual cases, dependent poverty ought to be held disgraceful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/hard-as-it-may-appear-in-individual-cases-dependent-poverty-ought-to/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) [Explore all 89 Thomas Malthus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“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/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other animals is the means of his support-the power which he possesses of very greatly increasing these means.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Malthus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes-man-from-other-animals-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes-man-from-other-animals-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/thomas-malthus-7621_animal_the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes_2598019.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/thomas-malthus-7621_animal_the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes_2598019.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/thomas-malthus-7621_animal_the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes_2598019.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other animals is the means of his support-the power which…” — Thomas Malthus", "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": "Thomas Malthus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The main peculiarity which distinguishes man...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes-man-from-other-animals-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-main-peculiarity-which-distinguishes-man-from-other-animals-is/#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 } } ] } ```