End of time Quote by Tom Robbins
““we, with our propensity for murder, torture, slavery, rape, cannibalism, pillage, advertising jingles, shag carpets, and golf, how could we be seriously considered as the perfection of a four-billion-year-old grandiose experiment? perhaps as a race, we have evolved as far as we are capable, yet that by no means suggests that evolution has called it quits. in all likelihood, it has something beyond human on the drawing board. we tend to refer to our most barbaric and crapulous behavior as "inhuman," whereas, in point of fact, it is exactly human, definitively and quintessentially human, since no other creature habitually indulges in comparable atrocities. this negates neither our occasional virtues nor our aesthetic triumphs, but if a being at least a little bit more than human is not waiting around the bend of time then evolution has suffered a premature ejaculation.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins, 1980
Humanity’s darkest impulses are intrinsic, not aberrations, suggesting evolution is ongoing and perhaps beyond our control.
In simple terms: Our worst behaviors are part of being human.
Key Takeaway
Accept humanity’s flaws.
Themes
human nature
evolution
morality
Mood
critical
thought‑provoking
Type
philosophical
satirical
When to use this quote
- history
- philosophy
- personal growth
Key Concepts
anthropology
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- What does this view mean for moral responsibility?
- Can evolution be guided ethically?
A Different Perspective
Overlooks capacity for change and improvement.
