What else should you be? Human beings didn't evolve brains in order to lie around on lakes. Killing's the first thing we learned. And a good thing we did, or we'd be dead, and the tigers would own the earth.

Summary

This quote suggests that as human beings, we are not meant to be idle and complacent. Our evolution and development of intelligence were driven by the necessity to survive and adapt. The author highlights that the act of killing, understood here as an essential means of self-defense, was one of the earliest skills we learned. It implies that without our instinct to protect ourselves, we would have become extinct and nature would be dominated by other predatory creatures. The quote emphasizes the importance of action and the primordial instinct for survival ingrained in human nature.

Topics