The Dead Sea Apes is a fable of dwellers by the Dead Sea who, according to the Muslim tradition, were transformed into apes because they turned a deaf ear to God's message to them by the lips of Moses. It is also a metaphor used, for instance by Carlyle, describing people in modern times to whom the universe, with all its serious voices, seems to have become a weariness and a humbug. See "Past and Present", Bk. iii. chap. 3.
Famous quotes containing the words dead, sea and/or apes:
“So vulnerable.
She is already trampled, that one,
having traveled so far from the heart.
She weighs so little.
She is so light and vulnerable.
She is the dead bee called love.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Is there any place on land or sea where there is no war?... Blackout. Blackout. Blackout. Blackout. Everywhere people stumblin’ in the dark. Is there to be no more light in the world? Is there no place in this dark land where a man who’s drunk can find a decent bit of fun?”
—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)
“It disturbs me no more to find men base, unjust, or selfish than to see apes mischievous, wolves savage, or the vulture ravenous for its prey.”
—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)