Kristen’s Reviews > I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life > Status Update

“I now see how the lives of all these creatures depend upon unseen organisms that they live with but are unaware of, that contribute to and sometimes entirely account for their abilities, and that have existed on the planet for far longer than they have.”

“Perhaps it is less that I contain multitudes and more that I am multitudes.”

“Scent, health, digestion, development, and dozens of other traits that are supposedly the province of individuals are really the result of a complex negotiation between host and microbes.”

“Our lives are heavily influenced by external forces that are actually inside us, by trillions of things that are separate from us and yet very much a part of us.”

“There are fewer than 100 species of bacteria that cause infectious diseases in humans; by contrast, the thousands of species in our guts are mostly harmless.”