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Quotes

Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes and pompous in the grave.

—Thomas Browne, 1658

An ape will be an ape, though clad in purple.

—Erasmus, 1511

Who hears the fishes when they cry?

—Henry David Thoreau, 1849

Man is merely a more perfect animal than the rest. He reasons better.

—Napoleon Bonaparte, 1816

Life is no way to treat an animal.

—Kurt Vonnegut, 2005

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.

—Frederick the Great, 1759

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

—Archilochus, c. 650 BC

Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts.

—D.H. Lawrence, 1911

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

—Henry Luttrell, 1820

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

—Homer, c. 750 BC

Alas! We are ridiculous animals.

—Horace Walpole, 1777

How like to us is that filthy beast the ape.

—Cicero, 45 BC

Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It’s what separates us from the animals—except the weasel.

—The Simpsons, 1993