WIST Quotations

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 11 “The Mermaid” (1874)

Dave — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:12:00 +0000

Be mersiphull to all the dum animals — no man can ride into heaven, on a sore-backed horse.

[Be merciful to all the dumb animals — no man can ride into heaven on a sore-backed horse.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 11 “The Mermaid” (1874)
(Source)

Rauschenbusch, Walter -- Prayers of the Social Awakening, “For the World” (1910)

Dave — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:20:56 +0000

Enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all the living things, our little brothers, to whom thou hast given this earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty, so that the voice of the Earth, which should have gone up to thee in song, has been a groan of travail. May we realize that they live, not for us alone, but for themselves and for thee, and that they love the sweetness of life even as we, and serve thee in their place better than we in ours.

Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) American theologian, social reformer, Baptist pastor
Prayers of the Social Awakening, “For the World” (1910)
(Source)

This prayer is frequently misattributed to St Basil of Caesarea, often in a variant form such as this:

Oh God enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our brothers the animals to whom Thou gavest the earth in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to Thee in song, has been a groan of travail.

The attributions to Basil are usually without citation, or with citations that are spurious in some fashion. For example, in Matthew Scully, Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy (2002), he cites Schaff and Wace, eds., A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Vol. 8 (1897), which is in fact about Basil's writings, but which does not appear to include this prayer.

Further discussion, in detail, can be found here: St. Basil’s “Animal Prayers” are a “Hoax” (Part One) | Animals Matter to God.

Russell, Bertrand -- “Do Dogs Think?,” New York American (1932-06-15)

Dave — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:48:26 +0000

I do not know whether dogs can think, or what thinking is, or whether human beings can think. But whether human beings can think or not, I know that those who love dogs think that dogs can think. This, I am afraid, is the sum total of my contribution to human knowledge on this important subject.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Do Dogs Think?,” New York American (1932-06-15)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- “If animals could talk,” New York American (1932-09-14)

Dave — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 15:11:46 +0000

There is no impersonal reason for regarding the interests of human beings as more important than those of animals. We can destroy animals more easily than they can destroy us; that is the only solid basis of our claim to superiority. We value art and science and literature, because these are things in which we excel. But whales might value spouting, and donkeys might maintain that a good bray is more exquisite than the music of Bach. We cannot prove them wrong except by the exercise of arbitrary power. All ethical systems, in the last analysis, depend upon weapons of war.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“If animals could talk,” New York American (1932-09-14)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- “If animals could talk,” New York American (1932-09-14)

Dave — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 15:27:53 +0000

I have often wondered what turkeys would think of Christmas if they were capable of thought. I am afraid they would hardly regard it as a season of peace and goodwill.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“If animals could talk,” New York American (1932-09-14)
(Source)

Sinclair, Upton -- The Jungle, ch. 3 (1906)

Dave — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 17:07:19 +0000

One could not stand and watch very long without becoming philosophical, without beginning to deal in symbols and similes, and to hear the hog squeal of the universe. Was it permitted to believe that there was nowhere upon the earth, or above the earth, a heaven for hogs, where they were requited for all this suffering? Each one of these hogs was a separate creature. Some were white hogs, some were black; some were brown, some were spotted; some were old, some young; some were long and lean, some were monstrous. And each of them had an individuality of his own, a will of his own, a hope and a heart’s desire; each was full of self-confidence, of self-importance, and a sense of dignity. And trusting and strong in faith he had gone about his business, the while a black shadow hung over him and a horrid Fate waited in his pathway.

Now suddenly it had swooped upon him, and had seized him by the leg. Relentless, remorseless, it was; all his protests, his screams, were nothing to it — it did its cruel will with him, as if his wishes, his feelings, had simply no existence at all; it cut his throat and watched him gasp out his life. And now was one to believe that there was nowhere a god of hogs, to whom this hog personality was precious, to whom these hog squeals and agonies had a meaning? Who would take this hog into his arms and comfort him, reward him for his work well done, and show him the meaning of his sacrifice?

Perhaps some glimpse of all this was in the thoughts of our humble-minded Jurgis, as he turned to go on with the rest of the party, and muttered: “Dieve — but I’m glad I’m not a hog!”

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) American writer, journalist, activist, politician
The Jungle, ch. 3 (1906)
(Source)

Sinclair, Upton -- The Jungle, ch. 3 (1906)

Dave — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:58:41 +0000

Meantime, heedless of all these things, the men upon the floor were going about their work. Neither squeals of hogs nor tears of visitors made any difference to them; one by one they hooked up the hogs, and one by one with a swift stroke they slit their throats. There was a long line of hogs, with squeals and lifeblood ebbing away together; until at last each started again, and vanished with a splash into a huge vat of boiling water.

It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was porkmaking by machinery, porkmaking by applied mathematics. And yet somehow the most matter-of-fact person could not help thinking of the hogs; they were so innocent, they came so very trustingly; and they were so very human in their protests — and so perfectly within their rights! They had done nothing to deserve it; and it was adding insult to injury, as the thing was done here, swinging them up in this cold-blooded, impersonal way, without a pretense of apology, without the homage of a tear. Now and then a visitor wept, to be sure; but this slaughtering machine ran on, visitors or no visitors. It was like some horrible crime committed in a dungeon, all unseen and unheeded, buried out of sight and of memory.

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) American writer, journalist, activist, politician
The Jungle, ch. 3 (1906)
(Source)

Walker, Alice -- Foreword to Marjorie Spiegel, The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery (1988; rev. ed. 1997)

Dave — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 18:14:47 +0000

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men.

Alice Walker (b. 1944) American writer, activist
Foreword to Marjorie Spiegel, The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery (1988; rev. ed. 1997)

Sewell, Anna -- Black Beauty, Part 4, ch. 36 “Jakes and the Lady” (1877)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 21:56:33 +0000

We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.

Anna Sewell (1820-1878) English novelist
Black Beauty, Part 4, ch. 36 “Jakes and the Lady” (1877)
(Source)

Hoffer, Eric -- Reflections on the Human Condition, Aphorism 7 (1973)

Dave — Sun, 05 May 2019 22:16:42 +0000

Animals often strike us as passionate machines.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Reflections on the Human Condition, Aphorism 7 (1973)

Schopenhauer, Arthur -- Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 15 “On Religion [Ueber Religion], § 179 “The Christian System [Über das Christenthum]” (1851) [tr. Hollingdale (1970)]

Dave — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:09:52 +0000

It can truly be said: Men are the devils of the earth, and the animals are the tormented souls.

[Man möchte wahrlich sagen: die Menschen sind die Teufel der Erde und die Tiere die geplagten Seelen]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 15 “On Religion [Ueber Religion], § 179 “The Christian System [Über das Christenthum]” (1851) [tr. Hollingdale (1970)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

One might say with truth, Mankind are the devils of the earth, and the animals the souls they torment.
[tr. Saunders (1890)]

Bentham, Jeremy -- An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, ch. 17, sec. 1, footnote (1789)

Dave — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:18:05 +0000

The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) English jurist and philosopher
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, ch. 17, sec. 1, footnote (1789)
(Source)

On animals, questioning why they are treated differently under the law.

Inge, William Ralph -- “The Idea of Progress,” Romanes Lecture (27 May 1920)

Dave — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:47:16 +0000

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.

William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
“The Idea of Progress,” Romanes Lecture (27 May 1920)
(Source)

Hugo, Victor -- The Alps and Pyrenees [Alpes et Pyrénées], “The Pyrenees,” ch. 11 “Pampeluna,” 1843-08-11 (1867) [tr. Manson (1898)]

Dave — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:06:36 +0000

In the relations of man with the animals, with the flowers, with the objects of creation, there is a great ethic, scarcely perceived as yet, which will at length break forth into light and which will be the corollary and compliment to human ethics.

[Il y a dans les rapports de l’homme avec les bêtes, avec les fleurs, avec les objets de la création, toute une grande morale à peine entrevue encore, mais qui finira par se faire jour et qui sera le corollaire et le complément de la morale humaine.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
The Alps and Pyrenees [Alpes et Pyrénées], “The Pyrenees,” ch. 11 “Pampeluna,” 1843-08-11 (1867) [tr. Manson (1898)]
(Source)

(Source (French))

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 22, The Last Continent (1998)

Dave — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 18:50:02 +0000

But still, one of the most basic rules for survival on any planet is never to upset someone wearing black leather.^*

^{*This is why protesters against the wearing of animal skins by humans unaccountably fail to throw their paint over Hell’s Angels.}

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 22, The Last Continent (1998)
(Source)

Macaulay, Thomas Babington -- History of England, vol. 1, ch. 3 (1849)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
History of England, vol. 1, ch. 3 (1849)

Sewell, Anna -- Black Beauty, Part 1, ch. 13 “The Devil’s Trade-Mark” (1877)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham.

Anna Sewell (1820-1878) English novelist
Black Beauty, Part 1, ch. 13 “The Devil’s Trade-Mark” (1877)
(Source)