Primitive Man quotes

Primitive Man

15 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

15 quotes
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo Philosopher, Poet, Politician

"To play with baubles is our ambition, not to deal with grave questions in a spirit of serious energy. But while we are playing with baubles, with our Legislative Councils, our Simultaneous Examinations, our ingenious schemes for separating the judicial from the executive functions, - while we, I say, are finessing about trifles, the waters of the great deep are being stirred and that surging chaos of the primitive man over which our civilised societies are superimposed on a thin crust of convention, is being strangely and ominously agitated."

Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso Painter, Sculptor

"What is conserved in the ground? Stone, bronze, ivory, bone, sometimes pottery. Never wood objects, no fabric or skins. That completely skews our notions about primitive man."

Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman Anarchist, Political Activist, Writer

"The conception of gods originated in fear and curiosity. Primitive man, unable to understand the phenomena of nature, and harassed by them, saw in every terrifying manifestation some sinister force expressly directed against him; and as ignorance and fear are the parents of all superstition, the troubled fancy of primitive man wove the God idea."

Explore further

Browse quotes that often appear alongside primitive man — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.