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Quotes

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

—Napoleon Bonaparte, 1816

Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It’s what separates us from the animals—except the weasel.

—The Simpsons, 1993

An ape will be an ape, though clad in purple.

—Erasmus, 1511

Animals, in their generation, are wiser than the sons of men, but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass.

—Joseph Addison, 1711

Animals are good to think with.

—Claude Lévi-Strauss, 1962

There be beasts that, at a year old, observe more, and pursue that which is for their good more prudently, than a child can do at ten.

—Thomas Hobbes, 1651

How like to us is that filthy beast the ape.

—Cicero, 45 BC

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

Who sleepeth with dogs shall rise with fleas.

—John Florio, 1578

Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts.

—D.H. Lawrence, 1911

Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.

—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BC

Men, my dear, are very queer animals—a mixture of horse nervousness, ass stubbornness, and camel malice.

—T. H. Huxley, 1895

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