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Anthropomorphism Quotes

Browse 26 quotes about Anthropomorphism.

Anthropomorphism Quotes

“The Waiting Room by Stewart Stafford The waiting room lay empty, Gloom-prowled, leather-studded seats, A ceiling fan spun lonely circles above, Keeping no one in particular cool at all. Portrait of a rose in a shadowy alcove, A pair of empty street scenes framed, Mirroring the deserted room where they hung, Creating the vacuum of an infinity void. A wreath of hope on the door, The first patient of the day lumbers in, Where there's one, there'll be others, Smiles from all at the start of the day. © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.”

HopeInfinitySmilesRoomVacuumAnthropomorphismPatient CareWaiting RoomEmpty RoomDoctor S Waiting Room
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“The Provider Several crows were lined up along the ridge of a quite ordinary house. 'These ridge poles are a good idea,' said a young one. 'Who dreamed it up?' 'This place of rest is a fortuitous gift from the moon,' said a raven who was mixing with the hoi polloi today. 'The moon is a relative of the roc, a distant cousin of mine. Believe me,' he said, stretching his wings out to their full advantage and pushing the crows at the end off balance, so several leaped into the wind and cried, 'caw' . . . 'it depends on your original stock. I've got a piece of the roc.' The moon rose spectral and drained, a gossamer imprint of her nighttime self, a reminder of crystal fracture, the load of swinging primitive stones, the ancient hairy arms with slingshots. A sudden explosion and the sky was defined with flapping and cawing. 'What was that?' cried the young one who was addicted to awe. 'Who knows?' replied the raven. 'Often the moon demands a sacrifice. As a close relative, it is now my duty to go and eat the meat. For it is said, nothing is wasted; nothing is without purpose.' And the raven rose and flew toward the hunters.”

PoetrySacrificeMoonDescriptionCrowsIn The Next GalaxyRuth StoneAnthropomorphismParableProse Poem
Book:In the Next Galaxy
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“The river loved to tell everybody (everybody being the sky, the wind, the few trees that grew around there, birds, deer and even the stars if you can believe that) what a great river it was. "I come roaring from the earth and return roaring to the earth. I am the master of my waters. I am the mother and father of myself. I don't need a single drop of rain. Look at my smooth strong white muscles. I am my own future!”

RiversRiverNatural BeautyAnthropomorphism
Book:Revenge of the Lawn / The Abortion / So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away
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“Anthropomorphism is usually thought of as an illusion that arises like a blister in soft human minds: untrained, undisciplined, unhardened. There are good reasons for this: when we humanise the world, we may prevent ourselves from understanding the lives of other organisms on their own terms. But are there things this stance might lead us to pass over – or forget to notice?”

FungiAnthropocentrismAnthropomorphismFungusMycology
Book:Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
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“There is an universal tendency amongst mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object those qualities, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious. We find human faces in the moon, armies in the clouds; and by a natural propensity, if not corrected by experience and reflection, ascribe malice and good-will to every thing, that hurts or pleases us. Hence the frequency and beauty of the prosopopoeia in poetry, where trees, mountains and streams are personified, and the inanimate parts of nature acquire sentiment and passion. (Section 3, paragraph 2).”

MaliceFallacyPersonificationAnthropocentrismTransferenceAnthropomorphismPersonify
Book:The Natural History of Religion
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“It’s unsettling when you read a story about anthropomorphic animals, and the animals can’t decide whether or not they wear clothing. (Note that Catterton cats aren’t anthropomorphic; they’re simply cats themselves.) You sit there asking yourself, “For heaven’s sake, do these animals have a sense of modesty? If some are clothed, are the others considered naked?”

CatCatsMiddle Grade FantasyCats HumorAnthropomorphismCat QuotesMiddle Grade Book
Book:Catterton
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“Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean temple at Tiahuanaco [Bolivia]. Like the Totem Pole of Göbekli Tepe, it is anthropomorphic. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, it has serpents writhing up its side. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, the long fingers of its hands almost meet in front of its body. The face is human not animal, however, and it's heavily bearded. Nonetheless, the figure of an animal is carved on the side of its head and this animal resembles no known species more closely than it does Toxodon, a sort of New World rhino that went extinct during the cataclysms at the end of the Ice Age around 12,000 years ago. This isn't pareidolia--the figure is definitely there. So there's only one question--and it's difficult to answer: is this a depiction of Toxodon, or is it some creature of the artist's imagination?”

Ice AgeCataclysmAnthropomorphismSerpentsGöbekli TepeTiahuanacoToxodon
Book:Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilization
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“When company comes, you must walk the fine line between obvious rudeness and actually making the intruders feel welcome. Sniff the guests' feet, but don't rub up against them. Jump on their laps, but don't stay to be petted. Stick around long enough to hear them say how beautiful you are, but not long enough to let on that you care what they think. The only exception to these rules is when the visitor is a confirmed cat-hater. That's when you need to pull out all the stops—purr, rub, cling and cuddle, until the offending human sneezes and departs abruptly.”

AnthropomorphismCat BehaviorCat HaterFeline S Perspective
Book:Cat Talk A Lighthearted Look at Living with Cats
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“Like lots of baby boomers, I was brought up on archaic anthropomorphism. Upstanding Christian dogs. Rabbits with family values. Because the ancient texts and pictures were sacred - Potter, Milne and the rest. Even concerned parents who knew Freud and Jung never saw the contradictions in feeding us on them.”

ChristianValuesParentSawsDogBabyConcernedSacredAncientContradictionFeedingRabbitsPottersFamily ValuesJungBoomersBaby BoomerAnthropomorphism
Author:Peter York
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“There is an universal tendency among mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object, those qualities, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious. We find human faces in the moon, armies in the clouds; and by a natural propensity, if not corrected by experience and reflection, ascribe malice or good-will to every thing, that hurts or pleases us.”

IfsHumansFacesNaturalHurtQualityMankindObjectsPleaseMoonReflectionConsciousUniversalArmyCloudsTendenciesProjectionGood WillMaliceTransfersPropensityHuman FacesConceivingAnthropomorphism
Book:The Natural History of Religion
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“Talk of belief in these animals is not some kind of anthropomorphism. We simply cannot explain the kinds of problem solving and behavioral sophistication some species exhibit without supposing that they have genuine beliefs. But once these ethologists finish making the case for animal belief, they quickly move to talk of animal knowledge as well. What I argue is that this is not a mere façon de parler.”

WellsKindProblemMovingBeliefAnimalCasesMereSpeciesArguingGenuineProblem SolvingExhibitsSophisticationSupposingSupposing ThatAnthropomorphism
Author:Hilary Kornblith
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“Truth is a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, anthropomorphisms, in short a sum of human relations which have been subjected to poetic and rhetorical intensification, translation and decoration […]; truths are illusions of which we have forgotten that they are illusions, metaphors which have become worn by frequent use and have lost all sensuous vigour […]. Yet we still do not know where the drive to truth comes from, for so far we have only heard about the obligation to be truthful which society imposes in order to exist" from, "On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense".”

KnowsHumansHas BeensStillsUseLyingOrderLostMoralHeardTruth IsIllusionArmyRelationForgottenMetaphorObligationPoeticTruthfulWornTranslationsMobileHuman RelationsDecorationBeing TruthfulSensuousRhetoricalAnthropomorphism
Author:Friedrich Nietzsche
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“What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which, after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical, and binding. Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions — they are metaphors that have become worn out and have been drained of sensuous force.”

PeopleHumansLongHas BeensSeemsForceIllusionRelationForgottenMetaphorFixedHostWornHuman RelationsBindingUsageWorn OutTruth And LiesDrainedSensuousAnthropomorphismGerman Philosopher
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche (Illustrated): Friedrich Nietzsche
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“In truth, one cannot, it seems, oppose mechanism and finalism, one cannot oppose mechanism and anthropomorphism, for if the functioning of a machine is explained by relations of pure causality, the construction of a machine can be understood neither without purpose nor without man. A machine is made by man and for man, with a view toward certain ends to be obtained, in the form of effects to be produced.”

IfsMenLongMadeEndsSeemsFormPurposeCertainViewsEffectsPureModelsUnderstoodMachinesRelationGrantedConstructionMechanismCausalityAnthropomorphism
Author:Georges Canguilhem
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