Animals are good to think with.
—Claude Lévi-Strauss, 1962Quotes
A good dog, sir, deserves a good bone.
—Ben Jonson, 1633Of all the creatures that breathe and creep on the surface of the earth, none is more to be pitied than man.
—Homer, c. 750 BCMan is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape.
—Erich Fromm, 1947There 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, 1684I hate the sight of monkeys; they remind me so of poor relations.
—Henry Luttrell, 1820Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.
—Voltaire, 1769Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.
—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BCMen, my dear, are very queer animals—a mixture of horse nervousness, ass stubbornness, and camel malice.
—T. H. Huxley, 1895Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
—George Eliot, 1857Cows 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, 1821How like to us is that filthy beast the ape.
—Cicero, 45 BCHistories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.
—Alexander Pope, 1709