# Quote — Richard E. Leakey, The Origin Of Humankind

> When our ancestors discovered the trick of consistently producing sharp stone flakes, it constituted a major breakthrough in human prehistory. ...The modest flake... is a highly effective implement for cutting through all but the toughest of hides... the humans who made and used these simple stone flakes thereby availed themselves of a new energy source—animal protein.

- Author: [Richard E. Leakey](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-e-leakey.md)
- Book: [The Origin Of Humankind](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-e-leakey/the-origin-of-humankind.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Leakey#The_Origin_of_Humankind_(1994)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-e-leakey/the-origin-of-humankind/when-our-ancestors