Luce

“I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if we’d known the bonobo first and the chimpanzee only later—or not at all. The discussion about human evolution might not revolve as much around violence, warfare and male dominance, but rather around sexuality, empathy, caring and cooperation. What a different intellectual landscape we would occupy!”
― Frans de Waal, Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are

“So, don’t believe anyone who says that since nature is based on a struggle for life, we need to live like this as well. Many animals survive not by eliminating each other or keeping everything for themselves, but by cooperating and sharing. This applies most definitely to pack hunters, such as wolves or killer whales, but also to our closest relatives, the primates.”
― Frans de Waal, The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society

“Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”
― Maya Angelou

“To learn something, to master something, anything, is as sweet as first love.”
― Geoffrey Wolff