Robert Ardrey - Animal Quotes

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Man is neither unique nor central nor necessarily here to stay. But he is a product of circumstances special to the point of disbelief. And if man in his current predicament seeks a fair mystique to see him through, then I can only suggest that he consider his genes. For they are marked. They are graven by luck beyond explanation. They are stamped by forces that we shall never know. But even so, in the hieroglyph of the human emergence certain symbols must stand for all to read: Change is the elixir of the human circumstance, and acceptance of challenge the way of our kind. We are bad-weather animals, disaster's fairest children. For the soundest of evolutionary reasons man appears at his best when times are worst.

Robert Ardrey
Man is a fraction of the animal world. Our history is an afterthought, no more, tacked to an infinite calender. We are not so unique as we should like to believe. And if man in a time of need seeks deeper knowledge concerning himself, then he must explore those animal horizons from which we have made our quick little march.

Robert Ardrey
Sex is a sideshow in the world of the animal, for the dominant color of that world is fear.

Robert Ardrey
What could not be denied was that in vast segments of the animal world natural selection of the most qualified individuals took place not by competition for females but by competition for space.

Robert Ardrey
Acquired characteristics cannot be inherited, and... within a species every member is born in the essential image of the first of its kind. African Genesis: A Personal Investigation into the Animal Origins and Nature of Man

Robert Ardrey
Animal language is a contagious expression of mood effecting communication between social partners.

Robert Ardrey