Best animal & self Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings

“Humans call animals 'dumb'... after they robbed their entire own precious world. They are intelligent beings in their own right, and thoroughly self-sufficient... if not molested by humans. Yet, after millennia of slavery by selfish/callous humans they're made to look dumb! The 'superior species' in their situations would, too, appear 'dumb'.”

Ifs World Humans Looks Made Self Animal Situation Intelligent Slavery Species Selfish Superiors Dumb Sufficient Animal Rights Self Sufficient Callous

Author:Adela Popescu

“This is a message to all those out there who think that you need animal products to be fit and strong. Almost two years after becoming vegan I am stronger than ever before and I am still improving day by day. Don't listen to those self proclaimed nutrition gurus and the supplement industry trying to tell you that you need meat, eggs and dairy to get enough protein. There are plenty of plant-based protein sources and your body is going to thank you for stopping feeding it with dead-food. Go vegan and feel the power!”

“Man is an evasive beast, given to cultivating strange notions about himself. He is humiliated by his simian ancestry, and tries to deny his animal nature, to persuade himself that he is not limited by its weaknesses nor concerned in its fate. And this impulse may be harmless, when it is genuine. But what are we to say when we see the formulas of heroic self-deception made use of by unheroic self-indulgence?”

“The mother's love is at first an absorbing delight, blunting all other sensibilities; it is an expansion of the animal existence; it enlarges the imagined range for self to move in: but in after years it can only continue to be joy on the same terms as other long-lived love--that is, by much suppression of self, and power of living in the experience of another.”

Years Firsts Long Self Moving Joy Mother Term Love Is Animal Existence Delight Range Sensibility Expansion Absorbing Suppression Mother's Love

Book:Felix Holt: The Radical

Source: Felix Holt: The Radical

“The idea of duty, that recognition of something to be lived for beyond the mere satisfaction of self, is to the moral life what the addition of a great central ganglion is to animal life. No man can begin to mould himself on a faith or an idea without rising to a higher order of experience: a principle of subordination, of self-mastery, has been introduced into his nature; he is no longer a mere bundle of impressions, desires, and impulses.”

Source: Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)

“Once you begin to take yourself seriously as a leader or as a follower, as a modern or as a conservative, then you become a self-conscious, biting, and scratching little animal whose work is not of the slightest value or importance to anybody.”

Littles Self Values Animal Leader Modern Conscious Importance Conservative Followers Self Conscious Biting

Book:The Essays of Virginia Woolf: 1929-1932

Source: The Essays of Virginia Woolf: 1929-1932

“A glad welcome to this affirmation by a group of psychologists that the self does not stop at the skin nor even with the circle of human relationships but is interwoven with the lives of trees and animals and soil; that caring for the deepest needs of persons and caring for our threatened planet are not in conflict.”

Needs Humans Persons Doe Self Animal Groups Tree Planets Conflict Skins Caring Circles Glad Welcome Soil Threatened Affirmation Psychologist Human Relations Human Relationships

Author:Mary Catherine Bateson

“What has here happened is that the instinct of cruelty, which has turned inwards, has become self-torture, and all man's animal instincts have been reinterpreted as guilt towards God. Every Nay man utters to his nature, to his real being, he flings out as a Yea, an affirmation of reality applied to God's sanctity”

Men Has Beens Real Self Reality Animal Happened Guilt Instinct Cruelty Torture Affirmation Sanctity Fling Animal Instinct

Book:Friedrich Nietzsche (English Edition)

Source: Friedrich Nietzsche (English Edition)

“I want to be the apostle of self destruction. I want my book to affect man's reason, his emotions, his nerves, his whole animal nature. I should like my book to make people turn pale with horror as they read it, to affect them like a drug, like a terrifying dream, to drive them mad, to make them curse and hate me but still to read me.”

People Men Want Should Writing Stills Book Self Reason Whole Dream Hate Turns Animal Emotion Horror Drug Destruction Mad Curse Nerves Pale Apostles Hate Me Self Destruction Self Destruct

Author:Leonid Andreyev

“The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion.”

Source: The Lost World

“The mere animal pleasure of travelling in a wild unexplored country is also great. The effect of travel on a man whose heart is in the right place is that the mind is made more self-reliant: it becomes more confident of its own resources, there is greater presence of mind.”

Men Mind Heart Made Self Country Pleasure Animal Greater Effects Resources Mere Right Place Unexplored Self Reliant Presence Of Mind

Book:The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868

Source: The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868

“I'm stoned on my music. I'm intoxicated by my joyful calendar between the tours, and the hunting, and the charity work, and the family time, and just my lifestyle living on a ranch in Texas and back when I lived on my ranch in Michigan. It's the epitome of individual independence, self-sufficiency, hands-on, earthly celebration and we tour every summer like complete animals.”

“I am a political animal, because for God's sakes I think "We The People" is a job. I think experienced self government demands on all levels - intellectual, moral, historical, and spiritual level. We are supposed to be engaged and give directions to our elected employees.”

People Thinking Giving Self Government Jobs Spiritual Political Animal Levels Moral Demand Intellectual Historical Sake Supposed To Be Engaged Employee Self-government Political Animals

Author:Ted Nugent

“The idea of duty--that recognition of something to be lived for beyond the mere satisfaction of self--is to the moral life what the addition of a great central ganglion is to animal life.”

Ideas Self Animal Moral Duty Mere Satisfaction Recognition Animal Life Moral Life

Book:Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)

“Humans, the only self-regarding animals, blessed or cursed with this torturing higher faculty, have always wanted to know why.”

Knows Humans Self Reason Wanted Animal Higher Blessed Curiosity Faculty Cursed

Book:Living in Hope and History

Source: Living in Hope and History

“There is seemingly no biological benefit to acting with conscience; if there were, only moral individuals would survive and procreate. Sadly, we know that's not true. The benefit of conscience is that you won't suffer guilt (private) or shame (public), and that by your own self-imposed definition, you are a moral human, a special kind of animal who takes unique pride in elevating him/herself above the termites.”

Source: How Could You Do That?!: Abdication of Character, Courage, Consci

“Like so many other recovered alcoholics, I am to this day bewildered that it took so long for me to understand that there was no such animal as 'social drinking' for me; that it had nothing to do with my willpower or self-respect or moral fiber, that it was a simple biochemical intolerance to a drug.”

Long Self Social Simple Animal Moral Drug Drinking Self Respect This Day Intolerance Willpower Alcoholism Alcoholics Fiber Bewildered Moral Fiber

Book:The Quality of Mercy

Source: The Quality of Mercy

“The faculty of self-help is that which distinguished man from animals; that it is the Godlike element, or holds within itself the Godlike element, of his constitution.”

Men Self Helping Animal Self Help Elements Constitution Faculty Distinguished Godlike

Author:J. G. Holland

“All of us from fertile egg to embryo to corpse, are exactly that: warm, wet, furry animals compelled by the sexuality of our forefathers and foremothers to be, either directly or indirectly, our own exciting and excitable, provocative and provocable selves.”

Self Animal Exciting Warm Sexuality Eggs Wet Compelled Corpses Provocative Fertile Forefathers Embryos Furry

Author:Lynn Margulis

“It is just this rage for consideration that has betrayed the dog into his satellite position as the friend of man. The cat, an animal of franker appetites, preserves his independence. But the dog, with one eye ever on the audience, has been wheedled into slavery, and praised and patted into the renunciation of his nature. Once he ceased hunting and became man's plate-licker, the Rubicon was crossed. Thenceforth he was a gentleman of leisure; and except the few whom we keep working, the whole race grew more and more self-conscious, mannered and affected.”

Source: Memories and Portraits: Stevenson's Vol. 21

“A second possible approach to general systems theory is through the arrangement of theoretical systems and constructs in a hierarchy of complexity, roughly corresponding to the complexity of the "individuals" of the various empirical fields... leading towards a "system of systems." [...] I suggest below a possible arrangement of "levels" of theoretical discourse...(vi) [...] the "animal" level, characterized by increased mobility, teleological behavior and self-awareness...”

“More than anything else, kindness is a way of life. It is a way of living and walking through life. It is a way of dealing with all that is-our selves, our bodies, our dreams and goals, our neighbors, our competitors, our enemies, our air, our earth, our animals, our space, our time, and our very consciousness. Do we treat all creation with kindness? Isn't all creation holy and divine?”

Source: The Healing Power of Kindness

“I think human self-hatred may be the great untold story of the millennium. It's the common thread linking deep ecology and animal rights, the love and money we lavish on pets, the uneasy longing for extraterrestrials to be meddling with us.”

“I was always empathetic with animals. It's a terrible and self-involved point of view that we do something because someone else is exploitable.”

Self Animal Views Involved Terrible Point Of View Empathetic

Author:Lily Tomlin

“Islam has taken everything from its wretched believers. They are robbed from their identity and self pride. All they have now is Islam. That is why Islam for Muslims is more than just a religion. It is their identity. When you criticize Islam, they perceive it as an attack on their identity and cringe with pain. They take that not only as an insult but also as an assault on their person. Like a corned animal they become vicious and fight back with all their might - a fight of survival. That is why you see such a violent reaction to a few silly cartoons.”

Persons Self Might Pain Fighting Animal Taken Identity Pride Survival Islam Believer Silly Violent Reactions Perceive Insult Criticize Cartoon Assault Vicious Wretched Cringe

Author:Ali Sina

“I think we're insecure about our self-imposed spot at the top of the pyramid of life. New studies are continually undermining our superiority complex and forcing us to reconsider our relationship to animals.”

Thinking Self Animal Study Complexes Spots Our Relationship Superiority Insecure Pyramids Undermining Superiority Complex

Author:Jonathan Balcombe

“I am for the animals, I couldn't care less about your need to eat animals, wear them, shoot them or exploit them. Too bad if you consider it suffering to let all that self-centered and traditional bullshit stop you from having the will to help the animals.”

Ifs Needs Self Helping Care Suffering Animal Traditional Vegetarian Vegan Bullshit Exploits Self Centered

Author:Rikki Rockett

“I would, therefore, say that for no reason whatsoever, except in self-defense, should one think of killing any animal.”

Thinking Should Self Reason Animal Killing No Reason Defence Self Defence

Author:Morarji Desai

“Animals love. They love their being. They strive to survive, to celebrate, to propagate . So certainly something we learn from animals is love. To survive and to celebrate, propagate and to love life. To be the best we can be - the right to be here and the responsibility to be the best dog or bear or horse that they can be. Humans have the tendency to self pity that other animals don't indulge in.”

Humans Self Animal Responsibility Dog Bears Horse Strive Pity Tendencies Celebrate Being The Best Love Life Indulge Self Pity Indulge In Animal Love

Author:Matthew Fox

“I think that we are supernatural. We are unique. We're the only animals in the universe that we know of that actually have self-consciousness, a sense of time and our own mortality.”

Thinking Knows Self Universe Animal Consciousness Unique Mortality Self Consciousness

Author:Anne Rice

“What makes me feel alive is community, connectedness. Certainly family, parenting, relationships, friendship. All the way into colleague relationships and relationship with spirit, relationship with one's own self and inner child, and animals, earth, planet. Fostering and nurturing and really focusing on connection - connection in relationship with other and my own self and God. When I don't feel connected in all those three areas, life is not very good.”

“Action helps you think and raises your self-esteem. Good luck happens when you're in action. Ask yourself, "Does this go toward or away from what I want?" There's an animal in us, and it has great instincts. Scan for a desire and follow it. Set a goal, any goal, and start doing everything you can think of to achieve it.”

Thinking Want Doe Self Helping Happens Action Desire Asks Goal Animal Achieve Self Esteem Raises Luck Instinct Esteem Good Luck

Author:Barbara Sher

“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

“When I was an animal I evolved through selfishness. Now that I am a man my evolution can be achieved only through self-sacrifice.”

Men Self Animal Sacrifice Evolution Selfishness Self Sacrifice

Book:Beyond Within: A Philosophy for the Inner Life

Source: Beyond Within: A Philosophy for the Inner Life

“We talked about how easy it was to make the mistake of anthropomorphizing animals, and projecting our own feelings and perceptions on to them, where they were inappropriate and didn't fit. We simply had no idea what it was like being an extremely large lizard, and neither for that matter did the lizard, because it was not self-conscious about being an extremely large lizard, it just got on with the business of being one. To react with revulsion to its behavior was to make the mistake of applying criteria that are only appropriate to the business of being human.”

Humans Ideas Self Matter Feelings Easy Animal Mistake Fit Behavior Perception Conscious No Idea Appropriate Being Human Criteria Self Conscious Inappropriate Lizards Revulsion

Author:Douglas Adams

“If... deceit is fundamental to animal communication, then there must be strong selection to spot deception and this ought, in turn, to select for a degree of self-deception, rendering some facts and motives unconscious so as not to betray - by the subtle signs of self-knowledge - the deception being practiced.' Thus, 'the conventional view that natural selection favors nervous systems which produce ever more accurate images of the world must be a very naive view of mental evolution.”

“Our understanding of what constitutes intelligence is utterly relative. If an aborigine drafted an I.Q. test, for example, all of Western civilization would probably flunk. We have a very convenient and self-serving way of defining intelligence. If an animal does something, we call it instinct. If we do the same thing for the same reason, we call it intelligence.”

Ifs Way Doe Self Reason Understanding Animal Example Civilization Tests Instinct Western Serving Relative Defining Convenient Western Civilization Self Serving

Book:Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth

Source: Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth

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Animal Quotes