Animals

"On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had acheived so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But, conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons."

Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"'I meant,' said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?' Death thought about it 'Cats,' he said eventually, 'Cats are nice.'"

Terry Pratchett, Sourcery

"Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."

Albert Schweitzer

"Human beings lack the strength of the gorilla, the sharp teeth of the lion, the speed of the cheetah. Brain power is our speciality. The brain is a tool for reasoning, and a capacity to reason helps us to survive, to feed ourselves and to safeguard our children. With it we have developed machines that can lift more than many gorillas, knives that are sharper than any lion's teeth, and ways of travelling that make a cheetah's pace tediously slow. But the ability to reason is a peculiar ability. Unlike strong arms, sharp teeth or flashing legs, it can take us to conclusions we had no desire to reach. For reason is like an escalator, leading upwards and out of sight. Once we step on it we do not know where we will end up."

Peter Singer, How Are We to Live?

"A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses."

George Bernard Shaw

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You cannot get eight cats to pull a sled through snow."

Jeff Valdez