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Frans de Waal Quotes

Primatologist

Frans de Waal is a renowned primatologist, born on October 29, 1948. His research focuses on the social behavior and cognitive abilities of non-human primates, having a profound impact on human ethology and social psychology.

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All Humans Animal Ifs Chimpanzees Empathy Primates Apes Needs Emotions Morality Social Bonobos Homo Sapiens Males Evolution People Self Strong Two Groups

Famous Frans de Waal Quotes

“If you want to design a successful human society you need to know what kind of animal we are. Are we a social animal or a selfish animal? Do we respond better when we're solitary or living in a group?”

Ifs Knows Want Needs Humans Kind Social Animal Successful Groups Design Selfish Solitary Human Society

Author:Frans de Waal

“You should know as much as you can about the human species if you have a hand in designing human society. Of course, I'm not saying that you can derive moral rules from nature - that's deriving an ought from an is, as the philosophers say - but you do need to know what kind of animals we are if you want to design a stable society.”

Ifs Knows Want Needs Should Humans Kind Hands Animal Moral Design Ought Species Philosopher Stable Human Society Human Species

Author:Frans de Waal

“If you are a cooperative animal you need to watch what you get. If you, or even a whole community, invest in something but then a few individuals receive a much larger return, it's not a good arrangement. If it happens consistently, it's time to look for an arrangement that is more beneficial. That's why we're so sensitive to how rewards are being divided.”

Ifs Needs Looks Whole Happens Individual Community Animal Watches Return Rewards Sensitive Divided Consistently Arrangements Beneficial Cooperatives

Author:Frans de Waal

“The intuitive connection children feel with animals can be a tremendous source of joy. The unconditional love received from pets, and the lack of artifice in the relationship, contrast sharply with the much trickier dealings with members of their own species.”

Feels Children Joy Animal Source Members Connections Species Pet Unconditional Love Contrast Intuitive Unconditional Artifice Dealings

Author:Frans de Waal

“The evolutionary struggle for survival is really a self-serving series of blows and stabs, and yet it can lead to extremely social animals like dolphins, wolves or, for that matter, primates.”

Self Matter Social Animal Struggle Survival Series Blow Serving Dolphins Self Serving Primates Struggle For Survival

Author:Frans de Waal

“We, who think like animals living in small groups, must structure a global world. We believe in universal human rights and believe racism and war are wrong. On the other hand, it is our nature to be cooperative and loving almost exclusively with the members of the group to which we feel we belong.”

Thinking World Feels Believe Humans War Hands Animal Rights Groups Members Racism Universal Structure Human Rights Small Groups Cooperatives

Author:Frans de Waal

“We are by far the most contradictory of all primates. An animal with this much internal conflict has never lived on this earth.”

Earth Animal Conflict Internals Contradictory Primates Internal Conflict

Author:Frans de Waal

“There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves.”

Littles Action Animal Judging Evidence Appropriateness

Book:The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates

Source: The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates

“It is hard to get animals which normally pay little attention to each other to do things together. One can teach dolphins to jump simultaneously out of the water precisely because they show similar behavior spontaneously, but try to make two domestic cats jump together and you will fail.”

Trying Littles Two Hard Shows Together Water Animal Pay Attention Teach Failing Behavior Cat Dolphins

Author:Frans de Waal

“Future benefits rarely figure in the minds of animals.”

Mind Animal Figures Benefits

Author:Frans de Waal

“The more self-aware an animal is, the more empathetic it tends to be.”

Self Animal Empathetic

Author:Frans de Waal

“I am personally not against keeping animals at zoos, as they serve a huge educational purpose, but treating them well and with respect seems the least we could do, and with 'we' I mean not just zoo staff, but most certainly also the public.”

Wells Mean Seems Purpose Animal Huge Educational Staff Zoos

Author:Frans de Waal

“In Africa, we have the bush meat trade, which means that, on a very large scale, animals are being killed in the forests and sold in the cities as a luxury food.”

Mean Animal Cities Trade Scales Forests Luxury Meat Large Scale

Author:Frans de Waal

“Most exotic animals are not particularly interested in people, which makes it hard to provoke them. Human-rearing gets them used to and sometimes imprinted on humans, which makes them potentially dangerous.”

People Humans Sometimes Hard Used Animal Dangerous Provoking Exotic Exotic Animals

Author:Frans de Waal

Humans Made Purpose Culture Forget Animal Example Population Entertainment Propaganda Satire Ducks Mice Popular Culture Walt Mickey Livestock

Author:Frans de Waal

“Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to sniff and touch it. With their unparalleled sense of smell, the animals know exactly what they are going for. Vision is secondary.”

Knows Use Hands Animal Vision Smell Noses Organs Elephants Grasping Trunks Primates

Author:Frans de Waal

“If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee's eyes, an intelligent self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals, what must we be?”

Ifs Inspirational Looks Self Motivational Eye Animal Personality Intelligent Assured Chimpanzees

Book:Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes

Source: Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes

“There's actually a lot of evidence in primates and other animals that they return favors.”

Inspirational Inspiration Motivational Motivation Animal Return Evidence Favors Primates

Author:Frans de Waal

“To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals and us.”

Ifs Humans Long Science Nature Animal Emotion Risk Missing Fundamentals Taboo Endowment Human Emotions Missing Something Kindness To Animals

Author:Frans de Waal

“It is not only visitors to the zoo who are fascinated but uneasy in the presence of chimpanzees; the same is true of scientists. The more they learn about these great apes, the deeper our identity crisis seems to become. The resemblance between humans and chimpanzees is not only external. If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee’s eyes, an intelligent, self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals, what must we be?”

Source: Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes

“I've argued that many of what philosophers call moral sentiments can be seen in other species. In chimpanzees and other animals, you see examples of sympathy, empathy, reciprocity, a willingness to follow social rules. Dogs are a good example of a species that have and obey social rules; that's why we like them so much, even though they're large carnivores.”

Social Animal Moral Atheism Dog Example Empathy Species Philosopher Positive Atheism Willingness Sentiments Reciprocity Good Examples Chimpanzees Carnivores

Author:Frans de Waal

About the Author

Born: October 29, 1948
Known for: Primatologist
Quotes: 137

Books & Sources

Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about OurselvesRelated source material

The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the PrimatesRelated source material

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?Related source material

Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We AreRelated source material

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among ApesRelated source material

Primates and Philosophers: How Morality EvolvedRelated source material

The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder SocietyRelated source material

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