“The man who meditates is a depraved animal.”

The first man, who, after enclosing a piece of ground, took it into his head to say, This is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society.

It is pity in which the state of nature takes the place of laws, morals and virtues, with the added advantage that no one there is tempted to disobey its gentle voice.

There is no evildoer who could not be made good for something.

My birth was my first misfortune.

I perceive God everywhere in His works. I sense Him in me; I see Him all around me.

The people of England regards itself as free; but it is grossly mistaken; it is free only during the election of members of parliament. As soon as they are elected, slavery overtakes it, and it is nothing.

People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.

If we assume man has been corrupted by an artificial civilization, what is the natural state? the state of nature from which he has been removed? imagine, wandering up and down the forest without industry, without speech, and without home.

Truth is an homage that the good man pays to his own dignity.

It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living.

But in some great souls, who consider themselves as citizens of the world, and forcing the imaginary barriers that separate people from people.

I may be no better, but at least I am different.

The imagination which causes so many ravages among us, never speaks to the heart of savages.

To do is to be.

The sociable man, always outside himself, is capable of living only in the opinions of others and, so to speak, derives the sentiment of his own existence solely from their judgment.

If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires?

But let us not forget that human love and compassion are equally deeply rooted in our primate heritage, and in this sphere too our sensibilities are of a higher order of magnitude than those of chimpanzees.

Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.

Here was a chimpanzee using a tool. That was object modification- the crude beginning of tool making.

Attacks by other chimpanzees are the second most frequent cause of death at Gombe, after disease.

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.

Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.

America will tolerate the taking of a human life without giving it a second thought. But don’t misuse a household pet.

Just because a chicken was born in the oven doesn’t make it a biscuit.