---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why is there such a gap between…"
description: "\"Why is there such a gap between nonspeaking animals and speaking man, when there is no other such gap in nature?\" — Walker Percy"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/walker-percy-1958_animal_why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeak_2974128.png"
---

#  Why is there such a gap between nonspeaking animals and…

![“Why is there such a gap between nonspeaking animals and speaking man, when there is no other such gap in nature?” quote by Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/walker-percy-1958_animal_why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeak_2974128.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/walker-percy-1958_animal_why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeak_2974128.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/walker-percy-1958_animal_why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeak_2974128.png)

> “Why is there such a gap between nonspeaking animals and speaking man, when there is no other such gap in nature?”

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

It questions why animals lack language while humans have it, despite no other similar gaps in nature.

**In simple terms:** Humans have unique speech abilities compared to animals.

Key Takeaway

Explore the origins of human language.

Themes

language evolution human uniqueness

Mood

curious thoughtful

Type

philosophical inquisitive

When to use this quote

- anthropology
- education
- technology
- social interaction

Key Concepts

cognitive development communication theory

Questions to Reflect On

- What factors contributed to human speech development?
- Can animal communication ever become language-like?

A Different Perspective

Language evolution is complex and not fully understood.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/)

## Related quotes

> [The greatest form of expression - or, at least, the most common that we have as human beings, what separates us from the animals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chael-sonnen/the-greatest-form-of-expression-or-at-least-the-most-common-that-we/)

[Chael Sonnen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chael-sonnen/)

> [If there's more that you can do, then do it. If there's not more that you can do, then be content with what you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/if-there-s-more-that-you-can-do-then-do-it-if-there-s-not-more-that/)

[Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/)

> [..in that moment i realize how much i love the little everyday routines of my life..the details that are my life's special pattern, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/in-that-moment-i-realize-how-much-i-love-the-little-everyday-routines/)

[Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/)

> [I'm supposed to be taking time off. But I'm still writing and I have this Gap advert lined up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-stone/i-m-supposed-to-be-taking-time-off-but-i-m-still-writing-and-i-have/)

[Joss Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-stone/)

> [ Not one country in all the world has eliminated its economic participation \[gender\] gap - not one. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/not-one-country-in-all-the-world-has-eliminated-its-economic/)

[Gayle Tzemach Lemmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-tzemach-lemmon/)

> [With a full century of contrary proof in our possession and despite our demonstrated capacity for cooperative teamwork, some among us seem to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/with-a-full-century-of-contrary-proof-in-our-possession-and-despite/)

[Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/)

> [Whether you face reality head on and make a life change, or deny your responsibility, you've made a choice. The way I see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-phillips/whether-you-face-reality-head-on-and-make-a-life-change-or-deny-your/)

[Shawn Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-phillips/)

> [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/)

[Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/)

> [You build the bonds through the community and police force, build bonds of understanding, and then when people feel comfortable in their communities, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-kaine/you-build-the-bonds-through-the-community-and-police-force-build/)

[Tim Kaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-kaine/)

> [I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/i-don-t-think-that-writing-real-writing-has-much-to-do-with-affirming/)

[Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/)

> [To be creative means to connect. It's to abolish the gap between the body, the mind and the soul, between science and art, between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/to-be-creative-means-to-connect-it-s-to-abolish-the-gap-between-the/)

[Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/)

> [It concerns me when people frame the conversation about equal pay about the entertainment business. I don't want the wage gap issue to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/it-concerns-me-when-people-frame-the-conversation-about-equal-pay/)

[Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/)

> [I honestly don't like Photoshop. I think when people Photoshop things, all of a sudden you're like, 'That's not even me anymore.' It takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-aldridge/i-honestly-don-t-like-photoshop-i-think-when-people-photoshop-things/)

[Lily Aldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-aldridge/)

> [No matter how strong the storm, how hard the rain and how vicious the wind there is always a gap in the clouds for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-greenhalgh/no-matter-how-strong-the-storm-how-hard-the-rain-and-how-vicious-the/)

Ben Greenhalgh

> [“A word is not filling in the gaps, but the fertilization of silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/a-word-is-not-filling-in-the-gaps-but-the-fertilization-of-silence/)

[Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/)

## More by Walker Percy

> [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [Americans are the nicest, most generous, and sentimental people on earth. Yet Americans have killed more unborn children than any nation in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/americans-are-the-nicest-most-generous-and-sentimental-people-on/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [“The real wonder is not that the Cosmos is now seen as wonderful but that it is not. Despite its inconceivable vastness, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-real-wonder-is-not-that-the-cosmos-is-now-seen-as-wonderful-but/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [“Ours is the only civilization in history which has enshrined mediocrity as its national ideal. Others have been corrupt, but leave it to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/ours-is-the-only-civilization-in-history-which-has-enshrined/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [ \[In art\] you are telling the reader or the listener or the viewer something he already knows but which he doesn't quite know that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-art-you-are-telling-the-reader-or-the-listener-or-the-viewer/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [“People usually told him the same joke two or three times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/people-usually-told-him-the-same-joke-two-or-three-times/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [For the world is broken, sundered, busted down the middle, self ripped from self and man pasted back together as mythical monster, half angel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-the-world-is-broken-sundered-busted-down-the-middle-self-ripped/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [Nobody but a Southerner knows the wrenching rinsing sadness of the cities of the North.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nobody-but-a-southerner-knows-the-wrenching-rinsing-sadness-of-the/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [“For me, all signifiers fit me, one as well as another. I am rascal, hero, craven, brave, treacherous, loyal, at once the secret hero…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-me-all-signifiers-fit-me-one-as-well-as-another-i-am-rascal-hero/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [“But the expectation of the self, to be informed in its nothingness--if only I can get out of this old place and into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/but-the-expectation-of-the-self-to-be-informed-in-its-nothingness-if/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [Nothing remains but desire, and desire comes howling down Elysian Fields like a mistral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nothing-remains-but-desire-and-desire-comes-howling-down-elysian/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [A novel is what you call something that won't sell if you call it poems or short stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-novel-is-what-you-call-something-that-won-t-sell-if-you-call-it/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-search-is-what-anyone-would-undertake-if-he-were-not-sunk-in-the/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

> [“Am I, in my search, a hundred miles ahead of my fellow Americans or a hundred miles behind them? That is to say: Have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/am-i-in-my-search-a-hundred-miles-ahead-of-my-fellow-americans-or-a/)

[Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

[Explore all 194 Walker Percy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/)

## 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

> [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": "Why is there such a gap between nonspeaking animals and speaking man, when there is no other such gap in nature?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Walker Percy"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeaking-animals-and-speaking-man/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Animal"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeaking-animals-and-speaking-man/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/walker-percy-1958_animal_why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeak_2974128.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/walker-percy-1958_animal_why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeak_2974128.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/walker-percy-1958_animal_why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeak_2974128.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Why is there such a gap between nonspeaking animals and speaking man, when there is no other such gap in…” — Walker Percy",
                "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": "Walker Percy",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Why is there such a gap...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeaking-animals-and-speaking-man/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/why-is-there-such-a-gap-between-nonspeaking-animals-and-speaking-man/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
