--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From a human point of view, the…" description: "\"From a human point of view, the difference between the mind of a human and that of a mountain goat is wonderful; from the point of view of the infinite..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/wendell-berry-236_adapted_from-a-human-point-of-view-the-differenc_770634.jpg" --- # From a human point of view, the difference between the… ![“From a human point of view, the difference between the mind of a human and that of a mountain goat is wonderful; from the point of view of the infinite ignorance that surrounds us, the difference is not impressive. Indeed, from that point of view, the goat may have the better mind, for he is more…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/wendell-berry-236_adapted_from-a-human-point-of-view-the-differenc_770634.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/wendell-berry-236_adapted_from-a-human-point-of-view-the-differenc_770634.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/wendell-berry-236_adapted_from-a-human-point-of-view-the-differenc_770634.jpg) > “From a human point of view, the difference between the mind of a human and that of a mountain goat is wonderful; from the point of view of the infinite ignorance that surrounds us, the difference is not impressive. Indeed, from that point of view, the goat may have the better mind, for he is more congenially adapted to his place, and he would not endanger his species or his planet for the sake of an idea.” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human minds differ from animal instincts, yet both can be suited to their environments; humility reveals that human ideas aren't always superior. **In simple terms:** Human ideas aren't always better than animal instincts. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of human perspective. Themes humility environment perspective Mood reflective serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - environmental policy - education - wildlife conservation Key Concepts anthropocentrism ecology Questions to Reflect On - What can we learn from animal adaptation? - How does humility affect decision making? A Different Perspective Human intellect can still solve complex problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Point of view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-of-view/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) ## Related quotes > [“It's not easy to kill a mountain goat. He thinks with his spine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/it-s-not-easy-to-kill-a-mountain-goat-he-thinks-with-his-spine/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [I am a mountain goat that keeps going and going and going, I cannot be stopped, I just keep going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sepp-blatter/i-am-a-mountain-goat-that-keeps-going-and-going-and-going-i-cannot-be/) [Sepp Blatter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sepp-blatter/) > [“All the Chinese people Richard had ever met had been sophisticated urbanites, so he had been half expecting that he would end up carrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/all-the-chinese-people-richard-had-ever-met-had-been-sophisticated/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [What is that mountain goat doing way up here in the clouds?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-larson/what-is-that-mountain-goat-doing-way-up-here-in-the-clouds/) [Gary Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-larson/) > [“I’d be happier on a horse,” Makin said. “I’d be happier on a giant mountain goat,” I said. “One that shat diamonds. Until we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/i-d-be-happier-on-a-horse-makin-said-i-d-be-happier-on-a-giant/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [“As my father explained after we’d finished, the point of the exercise was to recognize that there really is no difference between the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yongey-mingyur/as-my-father-explained-after-we-d-finished-the-point-of-the-exercise/) [Yongey Mingyur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yongey-mingyur/) > [The difference between your mind and your heart: Your mind tells you what is smart and your heart tells you what you're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-difference-between-your-mind-and-your-heart-your-mind-tells-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The difference between mind and brain is not a difference of quality, but a difference of arrangement. It is like the difference between arranging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-difference-between-mind-and-brain-is-not-a-difference-of-quality/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“There is one difference between mind power and prayer, however, in that subscription to a specific religion, if at all, is not required.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/there-is-one-difference-between-mind-power-and-prayer-however-in-that/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [What makes a difference is when we take our mind and put it into the scriptures, when we read the Buddhist Canon, the Pali…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-makes-a-difference-is-when-we-take-our-mind-and-put-it-into-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Progress is often equal to the difference between mind and mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-r-narayana-murthy/progress-is-often-equal-to-the-difference-between-mind-and-mindset/) [N. R. Narayana Murthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-r-narayana-murthy/) > [Only through the medium of the public physical world can the mind of one person make a difference to the mind of another. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/only-through-the-medium-of-the-public-physical-world-can-the-mind-of/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties...The difference in mind between man and the higher animals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/there-is-no-fundamental-difference-between-man-and-the-higher-mammals/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [My parents know I am not normal but it doesn't make a difference in their mind whether I am or I am not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rosenthal/my-parents-know-i-am-not-normal-but-it-doesn-t-make-a-difference-in/) [Tom Rosenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rosenthal/) > [The difference between mind and brain is that brain deals only with memorized, subjective, special-case experiences and objective experiments, while mind extracts and employs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-difference-between-mind-and-brain-is-that-brain-deals-only-with/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The two families, sundered in the ruin of a friendship, were united again first in new friendship and then in mariage. My grandfather made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-two-families-sundered-in-the-ruin-of-a-friendship-were-united/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“I knew a man who, in the age of chain-saws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Adapted quotes > [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) > [. . . by natural selection our mind has adapted itself to the conditions of the external world. It has adopted the geometry most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/by-natural-selection-our-mind-has-adapted-itself-to-the-conditions-of/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [ David Mamet, Tim Kazurinsky, and Denise DeClue, who adapted \[ About Last Night\]. Between the three of them... I mean, it's always down to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/david-mamet-tim-kazurinsky-and-denise-declue-who-adapted-about-last/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [To be quite honest, I've been very blessed when I've worked with Hollywood. The studios that have purchased my work to be adapted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/to-be-quite-honest-i-ve-been-very-blessed-when-i-ve-worked-with/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [More birds have adapted to a changing world than have failed. Very few have the narrow tolerance of the ivory-billed woodpecker or the Bachman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-tory-peterson/more-birds-have-adapted-to-a-changing-world-than-have-failed-very-few/) [Roger Tory Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-tory-peterson/) > [All our surest statements about the nature of the world are mathematical statements, yet we do not know what mathematics "is"... and so we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/all-our-surest-statements-about-the-nature-of-the-world-are/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) > [I believe that never was a country better adapted to produce a great race of women than this Canada of ours, nor a race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-murphy/i-believe-that-never-was-a-country-better-adapted-to-produce-a-great/) [Emily Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-murphy/) > [The symptoms of fascist thinking are colored by environment and adapted to immediate circumstances. But always and everywhere they can be identified by their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-symptoms-of-fascist-thinking-are-colored-by-environment-and/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [The man who gets bit twice by the same dog is better adapted for that kind of business than any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/the-man-who-gets-bit-twice-by-the-same-dog-is-better-adapted-for-that/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another. God said, 'Thou shalt not kill'; at another time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-which-is-wrong-under-one-circumstance-may-be-and-often-is-right/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Accustom yourself to master and overcome things of difficulty; for if you observe, the left hand for want of practice is insignificant, and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/accustom-yourself-to-master-and-overcome-things-of-difficulty-for-if/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [I have a very clear perception what the Internet is in my mind. I'm free. I'm not defined by what they say is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-drudge/i-have-a-very-clear-perception-what-the-internet-is-in-my-mind-i-m/) [Matt Drudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-drudge/) > [In my career as a coach, I have adapted constantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javi-gracia/in-my-career-as-a-coach-i-have-adapted-constantly/) [Javi Gracia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javi-gracia/) > [The time is probably near when a new system of architectural laws will be developed, adapted entirely to metallic construction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-time-is-probably-near-when-a-new-system-of-architectural-laws/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Ideology knows the answer before the question has been asked. Principles are something different: a set of values that have to be adapted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/ideology-knows-the-answer-before-the-question-has-been-asked/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) Browse all 300 Adapted quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "From a human point of view, the difference between the mind of a human and that of a mountain goat is wonderful; from the point of view of the infinite ignorance that surrounds us, the difference is not impressive. Indeed, from that point of view, the goat may have the better mind, for he is more congenially adapted to his place, and he would not endanger his species or his planet for the sake of an idea.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendell Berry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/from-a-human-point-of-view-the-difference-between-the-mind-of-a-human/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adapted" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/from-a-human-point-of-view-the-difference-between-the-mind-of-a-human/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/wendell-berry-236_adapted_from-a-human-point-of-view-the-differenc_770634.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/wendell-berry-236_adapted_from-a-human-point-of-view-the-differenc_770634.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/wendell-berry-236_adapted_from-a-human-point-of-view-the-differenc_770634.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“From a human point of view, the difference between the mind of a human and that of a mountain goat is…” — Wendell Berry", "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": "Wendell Berry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "From a human point of view,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/from-a-human-point-of-view-the-difference-between-the-mind-of-a-human/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/from-a-human-point-of-view-the-difference-between-the-mind-of-a-human/#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 } } ] } ```