1109 – “We have a responsibility toward the other life-forms of our planet whose continued existence is threatened by the thoughtless behavior of our own human species.”

-Jane Goodall

1093 – “Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one who inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait not known to the higher animals.”

-Mark Twain

1083 – “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”

-Charles Darwin

1026 – “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

-Matthew Kelly [See Source Notes for information on misattribution]

1005 – Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan on Humans and Animals

“Humans – who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals – have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and ‘animals’ is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them – without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret. It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious. They are just too much like us.”

-Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

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972 – “The question is are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?”

-David Attenbrough

927 – “There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties.”

-Charles Darwin

744 – “Those who live with pigs often speak of them as we normally speak of dogs—intelligent, loyal, and above all, affectionate. Each one, I am continually reminded by people who know them, is a complete individual, like no other pig.”

–Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

Wishing you great happiness and prosperity this Year of the Pig! Happy Lunar New Year!

584 – Pledges to the Earth and Universe

–Both anonymous

Pledge to the Earth

“I pledge allegiance to the Earth
of our beloved Solar System,
to all of her creatures
for here they dwell.
one Planet
united in harmony
with universal love
and compassion for all”

Pledge to the Universe

“I pledge allegiance to the Universe
and all the
Life which it supports.
One Cosmos
in our care,
irreplaceable,
with sustenance
and respect for all.”

351 – “How can we expect wild animals to survive if we give them nowhere in the wild to live?”

–Anthony Douglas Williams