Archive

Quotes

There 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, 1684

Man 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, 1947

Who sleepeth with dogs shall rise with fleas.

—John Florio, 1578

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

—Napoleon Bonaparte, 1816

Man is a troublesome animal and therefore is not very manageable.

—Plato, c. 349 BC

Alas! We are ridiculous animals.

—Horace Walpole, 1777

A dog starved at his master’s gate / Predicts the ruin of the state.

—William Blake, 1807

Who hears the fishes when they cry?

—Henry David Thoreau, 1849

Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.

—George Eliot, 1857

Man 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. 1500

Imitate the ass in his love to his master.

—St. John Chrysostom, c. 388

Every creature in the world is like a book and a picture, to us, and a mirror.

—Alain de Lille, c. 1200

It is remarkable that only small birds properly sing.

—Charles Darwin, 1871