In every man is a wild beast; most of them don’t know how to hold it back, and the majority give it full rein when they are not restrained by terror of law.

Who hears the fishes when they cry?

Animals are good to think with.

Man is no man, but a wolf, to a stranger.

I do not mean to call an elephant a vulgar animal, but if you think about him carefully, you will find that his nonvulgarity consists in such gentleness as is possible to elephantine nature—not in his insensitive hide, nor in his clumsy foot, but in the way he will lift his foot if a child lies in his way; and in his sensitive trunk, and still more sensitive mind, and capability of pique on points of honor.

How like to us is that filthy beast the ape.

Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all. 

Of all the creatures that breathe and creep on the surface of the earth, none is more to be pitied than man.

The fox knows lots of tricks, the hedgehog only one—but it’s a winner.

The righteous know the needs of their animals, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

What delight can there be, and not rather displeasure, in hearing the barking and howling of dogs? Or what greater pleasure is there to be felt when a dog followeth a hare than when a dog followeth a dog?

I hate the sight of monkeys; they remind me so of poor relations.

Do you not see how God is praised by those in the heavens and those on earth? The very birds praised Him as they wing their way.