Animals are good to think with.
—Claude Lévi-Strauss, 1962Quotes
Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
—George Eliot, 1857Man and animals are really the conduit of food, the sepulcher of animals, and resting place of the dead, one causing the death of the other, making themselves the covering for the corruption of other dead bodies.
—Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1500The elephant, although a gross beast, is yet the most decent and most sensible of any other upon earth. Although he never changes his female, and hath so tender a love for her whom he hath chosen, yet he never couples with her but at the end of every three years, and then only for the space of five days.
—St. Francis de Sales, 1609Animals, in their generation, are wiser than the sons of men, but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass.
—Joseph Addison, 1711When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.
—Winston Churchill, 1945A bull contents himself with one meadow, and one forest is enough for a thousand elephants; but the little body of a man devours more than all other living creatures.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 64Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It’s what separates us from the animals—except the weasel.
—The Simpsons, 1993Keep running after a dog, and he will never bite you.
—François Rabelais, 1535Man is merely a more perfect animal than the rest. He reasons better.
—Napoleon Bonaparte, 1816There are some who, if a cat accidentally comes into the room, though they neither see it nor are told of it, will presently be in a sweat and ready to die away.
—Increase Mather, 1684Man is a troublesome animal and therefore is not very manageable.
—Plato, c. 349 BCCows are among the gentlest of breathing creatures; none show more passionate tenderness to their young when deprived of them—and, in short, I am not ashamed to profess a deep love for these quiet creatures.
—Thomas De Quincey, 1821