Jerry Cagle

“Does my dog love me, or does he just want a treat?” A professor who is an expert in climate change—not dogs—recently asked me that question. I’ve often asked it myself. Short answer: your dog really does love you. Part of the reason is: because you are kind. If you were abusive, your dog would fear you. And they might still love you, out of duty or need—not so different from many people trapped in abusive relationships. But to answer the question directly: what we know about dogs’ brains, their brain chemistry, and the changes to their brains caused by domestication tells us that yes, your dog loves you. A dog’s ability to feel love for humans comes partly from the love wolves have for wolves, partly from the genetic changes of their domesticated ancestry. In dogs, we’ve bred the people we wish we could be: loyal, hardworking, watchful, fiercely protective, intuitive, sensitive, affectionate, helpful to those in need. No matter how they originated, their feelings are real to them. Your dog genuinely loves you, as you, in your domesticated state, activating the deep, old parts of your brain, love your dog.”
― Carl Safina, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

“Climbing, it turns out, is a nearly perfect vehicle for flow, which may be one of the reasons it has become so popular. For the climber, the goal may be to successfully climb a difficult rock pitch without falling. It is a meaningful, challenging goal that requires skill and focused attention because you will fall off if you fail to hang on. It provides immediate feedback. For the free-solo climber, who chooses to climb the pitch without a rope or protection, the goal is even more meaningful and challenging and requires even more intense focus. The feedback is also starkly clear and immediate—you don’t just fall if you fail to hang on; you probably die.”
― Jeff Smoot, All and Nothing: Inside Free Soloing

“It’s been said that no two species are more alike than wolves and humans. If you watch wolves not just in all their beauty and adaptability but in all their brutality, it’s hard to escape that conclusion.”
― Carl Safina, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

“Darwin coined the term “natural selection” because he was comparing the mechanics of what happens in nature with the artificial selection applied in raising livestock. But nature doesn’t really select; it filters. The environment works as a filter, and as the environment changes, it filters differently. The point is: as the pressures change, we remain a work in progress. Look at the evolving creature in the mirror. Realize that we’ve got a ways to go before we’re universally as good to one another, or as much fun with one another, as are bonobos.”
― Carl Safina, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel