Animal Quotes

"Every animal knows more than you do."
-Native American Proverb


"Our task must be to free ourselves - by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."
-Albert Einstein


"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
-Immanual Kant


"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."
-Anatole France


"My most treasured possessions are not things, they are only things, my friends, family and animals are what counts."
-Olivia Newton-John


"Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."
-Alfred A. Montapert


"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."
-George Eliot


"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
-Mahatma Gandhi


"An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language."
-Martin Buber


"Men! The only animal in the world to fear."
-D.H. Lawrence


"Lots of people talk to animals. Not very many listen, though... That's the problem."
-Benjamin Hoff


"Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored."
-Alice Walker


"They too, are created by the same loving hand of God which Created us, It is our duty to Protect Them and to promote their well-being."
-Mother Teresa.


And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
-Genesis 1:29-30


"A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is a bad as an act of cruelty to a human being."
-Prophet Mohammed


"There is not an animal on the earth, nor a flying creature on two wings, but they are people like unto you."
-Islam. Qur’an


"Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage."
-Sri Aurobindo


"Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals "love" them. But those who respect their natures and wish to let them live normal lives, love them more."
-Edwin Way Teale, Circle of the Seasons, 1953


"Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."
-Leonardo da Vinci


"Whether hunting is right or wrong, a spiritual experience, or an outlet for the killer instinct, one thing it is not is a sport. Sport is when individuals or teams compete against each other under equal circumstances to determine who is better at a given game or endeavor. Hunting will be a sport when deer, elk, bears, and ducks are given 12-gauge shotguns. Bet we'd see a lot fewer drunk yahoos (live ones, anyway) in the woods if that happened."
-R. Lerner, letter, Sierra, March-April 1991


"For hundreds of thousands of years the stew in the pot has brewed hatred and resentment that is difficult to stop. If you wish to know why there are disasters of armies and weapons in the world, listen to the piteous cries from the slaughter house at midnight."
-Ancient Chinese verse


"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."
-St. Francis of Assisi


"The Earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."
-Chief Seattle


"Is not the sky a father and the earth a mother, and are not all living things with feet or wings or roots their children? Hear me, four quarters of the world, a relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft Earth, a relative to all that is. All over the Earth, the faces of living things are all alike."
-John G. Neihardt in Black Elk Speaks


"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees."
-Qwatsinas


"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different."
-Hippocrates


"Respect the old and cherish the young. Even insects, grass and trees you must not hurt."
-T’ai-shang kan-ying p’ien, a Confucian-Taoist treatise. Attributed to Ko Hung


"If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth."
-Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe, letter to President Franklin Pierce