--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A zoo is a cultural institution. Like a…" description: "\"“A zoo is a cultural institution. Like a public library, like a museum, it is at the service of popular education and science. And by that token, not m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/yann-martel-395_education_a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-p_1095629.jpg" --- # A zoo is a cultural institution. Like a public library… ![“A zoo is a cultural institution. Like a public library, like a museum, it is at the service of popular education and science. And by that token, not much of a money-making venture for the Greater Good and the Greater Profit are not compatible aims.” quote by Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/yann-martel-395_education_a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-p_1095629.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/yann-martel-395_education_a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-p_1095629.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/yann-martel-395_education_a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-p_1095629.jpg) > ““A zoo is a cultural institution. Like a public library, like a museum, it is at the service of popular education and science. And by that token, not much of a money-making venture for the Greater Good and the Greater Profit are not compatible aims.”” [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Museums serve public education like libraries, not profit; they prioritize knowledge over money. **In simple terms:** Museums are for education, not profit. Key Takeaway Support educational institutions. Themes education culture public good Mood thoughtful inspirational Type advocacy philosophical When to use this quote - museum visits - public policy - fundraising Key Concepts civic responsibility nonprofit ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can museums remain financially sustainable while staying true to education? - What role should profit play in cultural institutions? A Different Perspective Funding pressures may compromise educational missions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Greater good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater-good/) [Institution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institution/) [Public library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-library/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [I like being married. It's an institution that I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aretha-franklin/i-like-being-married-it-s-an-institution-that-i-like/) [Aretha Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aretha-franklin/) > [I cant fuck with American Idol. Its a cultural institution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-levine/i-cant-fuck-with-american-idol-its-a-cultural-institution/) [Adam Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-levine/) > [“Chanel is an institution, and you have to treat an institution like a whore – and then you get something out of her”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/chanel-is-an-institution-and-you-have-to-treat-an-institution-like-a/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [ Photography mirrored the \[nineteenth century\] will towards rigor, towards defining details, the need for miniscule description, the long-distance optics, for technology at the service… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontcuberta/photography-mirrored-the-nineteenth-century-will-towards-rigor/) [Joan Fontcuberta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontcuberta/) > [I have a one of a kind collection of dolls. My house is like a museum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-simmons/i-have-a-one-of-a-kind-collection-of-dolls-my-house-is-like-a-museum/) [Richard Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-simmons/) > [It'd be really great to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame mature. It's a good facility there in Cleveland. I like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-miller/it-d-be-really-great-to-see-the-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-mature-it/) [Steve Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-miller/) > [“It's an old church and smells like a museum - in a good way, a survived-lots-of-shit-and-still-standing kind of way. Something about the stained-glass windows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chevy-stevens/it-s-an-old-church-and-smells-like-a-museum-in-a-good-way-a-survived/) [Chevy Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chevy-stevens/) > [“It looks like-" "- a museum," Ariane said, with the smallest note of envy. I shrugged. "I was going to go with fancy rehab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-kade/it-looks-like-a-museum-ariane-said-with-the-smallest-note-of-envy-i/) [Stacey Kade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-kade/) > [“The whole room was like a museum of how people lived in olden times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/the-whole-room-was-like-a-museum-of-how-people-lived-in-olden-times/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [Any city in America would like to get a museum built if they didn't have to pay for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/any-city-in-america-would-like-to-get-a-museum-built-if-they-didn-t/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [I think that you can treat a classic like a museum piece -stuffed and mounted- or you can make it a living, breathing narrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-jackson/i-think-that-you-can-treat-a-classic-like-a-museum-piece-stuffed-and/) [Peter Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-jackson/) > [My room isn t dirty, I just have everything on display like a museum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/young-siddiq-prince/my-room-isn-t-dirty-i-just-have-everything-on-display-like-a-museum/) [Young Siddiq Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/young-siddiq-prince/) > [I've got a house full of taxidermy. It's like a museum. I have about 200 pieces in total, all ethically sourced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/i-ve-got-a-house-full-of-taxidermy-it-s-like-a-museum-i-have-about/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [To have a museum like the Museum of Modern Art in New York is to have power. I don't have any interest in being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-gonzalez/to-have-a-museum-like-the-museum-of-modern-art-in-new-york-is-to-have/) [Luis Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-gonzalez/) > [It's more than a game. It's an institution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hughes/it-s-more-than-a-game-it-s-an-institution/) [Thomas Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hughes/) ## More by Yann Martel > [“It’s a big ocean crossed by busy ships. I went slowly, observing much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/it-s-a-big-ocean-crossed-by-busy-ships-i-went-slowly-observing-much/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“The word isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-word-isn-t-just-the-way-it-is-it-is-how-we-understand-it-no-and/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Remember that your days on this earth are counted and you might as well make the best of those you have left.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/remember-that-your-days-on-this-earth-are-counted-and-you-might-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“I must say a word about fear. It's is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-must-say-a-word-about-fear-it-s-is-life-s-only-true-opponent-only/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [High calls low and low calls high. I tell you, if you were in such dire straits as I was, you too would elevate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/high-calls-low-and-low-calls-high-i-tell-you-if-you-were-in-such-dire/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Or rather, since Christians are so fond of capital letters, a Story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/or-rather-since-christians-are-so-fond-of-capital-letters-a-story/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Progress is unstoppable. It is a drumbeat to which we must all march. Technology helps and good ideas spread - these are two laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/progress-is-unstoppable-it-is-a-drumbeat-to-which-we-must-all-march/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“I never had problems with my fellow scientists. Scientists are a friendly, atheistic, hard-working, beer-drinking lot whose minds are preoccupied with sex, chess and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-never-had-problems-with-my-fellow-scientists-scientists-are-a/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/for-evil-in-the-open-is-but-evil-from-within-that-has-been-let-out/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Books are something social - a writer speaking to a reader - so I think making the reading of a book the center of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/books-are-something-social-a-writer-speaking-to-a-reader-so-i-think/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Nothing beats reason for keeping tigers away. But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/nothing-beats-reason-for-keeping-tigers-away-but-be-excessively/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Uvek ima onih koji uzmu za pravo da brane Boga, kao da je Poslednja stvarnost, kao da je temeljni ram postojanja nešto slabašno i…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/uvek-ima-onih-koji-uzmu-za-pravo-da-brane-boga-kao-da-je-poslednja/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity- its envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-reason-death-sticks-so-closely-to-life-isn-t-biological-necessity/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) [Explore all 570 Yann Martel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) ## 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": "“A zoo is a cultural institution. Like a public library, like a museum, it is at the service of popular education and science. And by that token, not much of a money-making venture for the Greater Good and the Greater Profit are not compatible aims.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yann Martel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-public-library-like-a-museum/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-public-library-like-a-museum/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/yann-martel-395_education_a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-p_1095629.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/yann-martel-395_education_a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-p_1095629.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee7/yann-martel-395_education_a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-p_1095629.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A zoo is a cultural institution. Like a public library, like a museum, it is at the service of popular…” — Yann Martel", "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": "Yann Martel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A zoo is a cultural institution....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-public-library-like-a-museum/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/a-zoo-is-a-cultural-institution-like-a-public-library-like-a-museum/#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 } } ] } ```