The premise of the Taker story is 'the world belongs to man'. … The premise of the Leaver story is 'man belongs to the world'.
Tags: philosophy, civilization

Other Quotes by "Daniel Quinn"

The obvious can sometimes be illuminating when perceived in an unhabitual way.
Tags: knowledge, epistemology
Putting food under lock and key was one of the great innovations of your culture. No other culture in history has ever put food under lock and key - and putting it there is the cornerstone of your economy.[...] Because if the food wasn't under lock and key, Julie, who would work?
Tags: philosophy, my-ishmael, food, economy
If you go to Singapore or Amsterdam or Seoul or Buenos Aires or Islamabad or Johannesburg or Tampa or Istanbul or Kyoto, you'll find that the people differ wildly in the way they dress, in their marriage customs, in the holidays they observe, in their religious rituals, and so on, but they all expect the food to be under lock and key. It's all owned, and if you want some, you'll have to buy it.
Tags: philosophy, my-ishmael, food, economy
This is precisely how someone speaks who imagines that he is the world's divinely appointed ruler: 'I will not LET them starve. I will not LET the drought come. I will not LET the river flood.
Tags: philosophy, civilization
[N]ow we have a clearer idea what this story is all about: The world was made for man, and man was made to rule it.
Tags: philosophy, exploitation, civilization
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