Quotes from Planet of the Apes

Pierre Boulle ·  268 pages

Rating: (27.6K votes)


“But once an original book has been written-and no more than one or two appear in a century-men of letters imitate it, in other words, they copy it so that hundreds of thousands of books are published on exactly the same theme, with slightly different titles and modified phraseology. This should be able to be achieved by apes, who are essentially imitators, provided, of course, that they are able to make use of language.”
― Pierre Boulle, quote from Planet of the Apes


“I racked my brains to discover some sense in the events I had witnessed. I needed this intellectual exercise to escape from the despair that haunted me, to prove to myself that I was a man, I mean a man from Earth, a reasoning creature who made it a habit to discover a logical explanation for the apparently miraculous whims of nature, and not a beast hunted down by highly developed apes.”
― Pierre Boulle, quote from Planet of the Apes


“This time I felt it was impossible that they could entertain further doubt as to my true condition. Alas, I did not yet know the blindness of orangutans!”
― Pierre Boulle, quote from Planet of the Apes


“Des hommes raisonnables? Des hommes détenteurs de la sagesse? Des hommes inspirés par l'espirit? ... Non, ce n'est pas possible.”
― Pierre Boulle, quote from Planet of the Apes


“That perfected machines may one day succeed us is, I remember, an extremely commonplace notion on Earth. It prevails not only among poets and romantics but in all classes of society. Perhaps it is because it is so widespread, born spontaneously in popular imagination, that it irritates scientific minds. Perhaps it is also for this very reason that it contains a germ of truth. Only a germ: Machines will always be machines; the most perfected robot, always a robot. But what of living creatures possessing a certain degree of intelligence, like apes? And apes, precisely, are endowed with a keen sense of imitation.…”
― Pierre Boulle, quote from Planet of the Apes



“But how could one hold this against her when faced with the perfection of her body? Suddenly”
― Pierre Boulle, quote from Planet of the Apes


Video

About the author

Pierre Boulle
Born place: in Avignon, France
Born date February 21, 1912
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“The importance of English word order is also the reason that the idea that you can't end a sentence with a preposition is utter hogwash. In fact, it would be utter hogwash anyway, and anyone who claims that you can't end a sentence with up, should be told to shut. It is, as Shakespeare put it, such stuff as dreams are made on, but it's one of those silly English beliefs that flesh is heir to.”
― Mark Forsyth, quote from The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase


“Fear did not make someone cowardly; allowing that fear to stop them taking appropriate action, did. He”
― C.J. Archer, quote from The Medium


“He’s engaged, she can’t have kids, and this barren bitch is trying to take Grace instead!”
― Dina Silver, quote from One Pink Line


“Life isn't always about fireworks. Your fireworks will come, Sarah. And they'll fizzle out just as fast. Life's an experience, not a destination. All of us have the same destination, but not one of us has an identical experience. You'll find someone who will be there when the fireworks fizzle out and the sky turns black and love you just the same. That’s the one to hold onto.”
― Marilyn Grey, quote from Bloom


“Forgiving people are less likely to be hateful, depressed, hostile, anxious, angry, and neurotic.”
― Sonja Lyubomirsky, quote from The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want


Interesting books

The Kingdom of God Is Within You
(2.8K)
The Kingdom of God I...
by Leo Tolstoy
The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health
(20.2K)
The China Study: The...
by T. Colin Campbell
The Belgariad, Vol. 1: Pawn of Prophecy / Queen of Sorcery / Magician's Gambit
(13.9K)
The Belgariad, Vol....
by David Eddings
Losing Lila
(6.4K)
Losing Lila
by Sarah Alderson
Fear and Trembling
(14.8K)
Fear and Trembling
by Søren Kierkegaard
The Gift
(13.7K)
The Gift
by Danielle Steel

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.