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Frans de Waal

Frans de Waal Quotes

Primatologist

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Famous Frans de Waal Quotes

“The reality is that we are bodies born from other bodies, bodies feeding other bodies, bodies having sex with other bodies, bodies seeking a shoulder to lean or cry on, bodies traveling long distances to be close to other bodies, and so on. Would life be worth living without these connections and the emotions they arouse? How happy would we be, especially given that happiness, too, is an emotion?”

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Book:Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are
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“Contrary to general belief, humans imitate apes more than the reverse. The sight of monkeys or apes induces an irresistible urge in people to jump up and down, exaggeratedly scratch themselves and holler in a way that must make the primates wonder how this otherwise so intelligent species has come to depend on such inferior means of communication.”

PeopleWayHumansMeanBeliefWonderCommunicationDependsSightIntelligentSpeciesContraryUrgesReverseInferiorsMonkeysScratchesUp And DownApesIrresistiblePrimatesMeans Of Communication
Author:Frans de Waal
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“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.”

IfsKnowsWantNeedsShouldHumansKindHandsAnimalMoralDesignOughtSpeciesPhilosopherStableHuman SocietyHuman Species
Author:Frans de Waal
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“Humans became easy prey when they moved from the forest to the savanna, which deprived them of the option of climbing trees to flee predators. This shift made it necessary for the men to actively protect the women and their babies. Only as a result of this protection were women able to give birth in shorter intervals, perhaps once every two or three years. This meant that they could produce offspring about twice as frequently as apes. I would be willing to bet that this rapid reproduction is one of the reasons why we dominate the world today, and not the apes.”

MenWorldGivingYearsHumansMadeTwoReasonWould BeTodayAbleThreeEasyResultsTreeProduceWillingHe ManBabyBirthProtectMovedProtectionForestsMade ItReason WhyClimbingThree YearsPreyRapidsDeprivedApesWorld TodayOffspringReproductionPredatorIntervalsClimbing TreesSavanna
Author:Frans de Waal
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“To neglect the common ground with other primates, and to deny the evolutionary roots of human morality, would be like arriving at the top of a tower to declare that the rest of the building is irrelevant, that the precious concept of "tower" ought to be reserved for the summit.”

HumansWould BeCommonBuildingOughtMoralityConceptsRootsDenyNeglectTowersIrrelevantSummitReservedArrivingCommon GroundPrimates
Book:Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved
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“Popular culture bombards us with examples of animals being humanized for all sorts of purposes, ranging from education to entertainment to satire to propaganda. Walt Disney, for example, made us forget that Mickey is a mouse, and Donald a duck. George Orwell laid a cover of human societal ills over a population of livestock.”

HumansMadePurposeCultureForgetAnimalExamplePopulationEntertainmentPropagandaSatireDucksMicePopular CultureWaltMickeyLivestock
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“I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if we’d known the bonobo first and the chimpanzee only later—or not at all. The discussion about human evolution might not revolve as much around violence, warfare and male dominance, but rather around sexuality, empathy, caring and cooperation. What a different intellectual landscape we would occupy!”

IfsTryingFirstsHumansDifferentSometimesMightKnownImagineViolenceHappenedEvolutionIntellectualEmpathyMalesCaringSexualityLandscapeDiscussionCooperationWarfareDominanceChimpanzeesHuman EvolutionBonobosMale Dominance
Book:Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are
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“We start out postulating sharp boundaries, such as between humans and apes, or between apes and monkeys, but are in fact dealing with sand castles that lose much of their structure when the sea of knowledge washes over them. They turn into hills, leveled ever more, until we are back to where evolutionary theory always leads us: a gently sloping beach.”

HumansFactsTurnsLosesSeaTheoryStructureBoundariesHillsBeachSandMonkeysCastlesApesSand Castle
Book:The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
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“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?”

IfsHumansLooksSelfSeemsEyeAnimalIdentityPersonalityScientistIntelligentCrisisDeeperFascinatedAssuredApesVisitorsZoosUneasyResemblanceChimpanzeesIdentity Crisis
Book:Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes
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“Why not assume that our humanity, including the self-control needed for livable societies, is built into us? Does anyone truly believe that our ancestors lacked social norms before they had religion? Did they never assist others in need, or complain about an unfair deal? Humans must have worried about the functioning of their communities well before the current religions arose, which is only a few thousand years ago.”

NeedsYearsBelieveHumansWellsDoeSelfHumanitySocialCommunityDealsNeededThousandBuiltYears AgoAssumingIncludingCurrentsComplainingWorriedWhy NotAncestorSelf ControlUnfairThousand YearsNormSocial Norms
Author:Frans de Waal
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