In every man is a wild beast; most of them don’t know how to hold it back, and the majority give it full rein when they are not restrained by terror of law.

I do not mean to call an elephant a vulgar animal, but if you think about him carefully, you will find that his nonvulgarity consists in such gentleness as is possible to elephantine nature—not in his insensitive hide, nor in his clumsy foot, but in the way he will lift his foot if a child lies in his way; and in his sensitive trunk, and still more sensitive mind, and capability of pique on points of honor.

Of all the creatures that breathe and creep on the surface of the earth, none is more to be pitied than man.

Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.

Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts.

When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.

Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all. 

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.

Man is no man, but a wolf, to a stranger.

The fox knows lots of tricks, the hedgehog only one—but it’s a winner.

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