“It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English—more than fifty words used in correct context—no human being has been reported to have learned Dolphinese.” – Carl Sagan
“Joe and Rosalie were two adolescent wild dolphins captured for the Human/Dolphin Foundation experiments. Dr. Lilly showed us some home movies of their capture, which they made absolutely no attempt to avoid. They were completely calm, even though they were being man-handled and dragged in slings. Try doing that to any other species of wild animal. These creatures were volunteering for a grand adventure to study humans, not knowing if they would ever return to the wild. Joe and Rose were eventually released. They have avoided humans ever since.” – Roedy Green
“No bigger in the mass of the body than the thumb of a man, the Purusha, the Spirit within, is seated forever in the heart of all creatures.” – The Upanishads
“It is just like man’s vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.” —Mark Twain
“Questers of the truth, that’s who dogs are; seekers after the invisible scent of another being’s authentic core.”—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.”—Andrew A. Rooney
“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”—James Herriot
“All of the animals except for man know that the principle business of life is to enjoy it.”—Samuel Butler
“On animals: It’s almost as if we’re put here on earth to show how silly they aren’t.”—Russell Hoban
“People speak sometimes about the ‘bestial’ cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts; no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.” — Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“Ask experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are like us.’ Ask experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are not like us.’ Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction.” — attributed to Charles R. Magel
“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.”— Martin Buber
“I was so moved by the intelligence, sense of fun, and personalities of the animals I worked with on Babe that by the end of the film I was a vegetarian.” — James Cromwell
“The question is not, “’Can they reason?’ nor, “Can they talk?” but rather, “Can they suffer?” — Jeremy Bentham
“Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored.” — Alice Walker
“If an animal does something, we call it instinct; if we do the same thing for the same reason, we call it intelligence.” — Will Cuppy
“If you think dogs can’t count, try keeping three cookies in your pocket, and giving your dog only two.” – Unknown
“What sets humans apart from animals is that we have to walk around saying how smart we are, and animals just live their lives.” ― Chanctetinyea J.J. Ouellette
“What if we accepted the sensitivity, the acute worldliness of a dog or a horse or a cougar, as the norm? What would humans look like if we were measured from a crow’s perspective? What kind of theory of human consciousness would a good-natured pig or an inquisitive dolphin arrive at?” —Verlyn Klinkenborg
“Chickens exist in stable social groups. They can recognize each other by their facial features. They have twenty-four distinct cries that communicate a wealth of information to one other, including separate alarm calls depending on whether a predator is traveling by land or sea. They are good at solving problems… Perhaps most persuasive is the chicken’s intriguing ability to understand that an object, when taken away and hidden, nevertheless continues to exist. This is beyond the capacity of small children.”—Dr. Chris Evans
“The latest crow feat? Crows use tools in a sequential manner. In a 2009 study, the Oxford University scientists watched captive crows use one tool in order to retrieve a second tool in order to obtain a third tool that they then used to retrieve food—all without training. This challenges the idea that analogical reasoning and planning are proof of higher human intelligence. The study calls into question our definitions of intelligence altogether.” — Sumel Fitzgerald
“Man is a vain animal. He claims to have a penis bigger than a whale’s because his is bigger in relation to his overall weight. He puffs himself up in a similar way claiming to have a bigger brain. Even a housefly can control its body with six legs and two wings with astounding dexterity with a brain the size of a pinhead. …Imagine my beagle/greyhound cross Sheldon (now deceased) trying to judge my intelligence. He would note that I had no ability to remember where bones were buried. He would note I was totally incapable of even detecting when a human or canine female was in heat, even when I was in the same room. I could not jump anywhere near as high as he, or run as fast. He would have no understanding of or appreciation for the long hours I put in front of the computer. He would consider me a pretty pathetic excuse for a creature, were it not for my uncanny ability to beg dog food from the supermarket lady.” — Roedy Green
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