Animal and Pet Quotes From the Famous and Infamous to Inspire

"The purity of a person's heart can be quickly measured by how they regard animals" ~ Anonymous

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." ~ Roger Caras

"There's no need for a piece of sculpture in a home that has a cat." ~ Wesley Bates

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." ~ Anonymous

"You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'" ~ Dave Barry

"There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before." ~ Robert Lynd

"The dog was created especially for children. He is the God of frolic." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"The Cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him." ~ Rudyard Kipling

"If I have any beliefs about immortality it is that certain dogs I know will go to heaven, and very very few people." ~ James Thurber

"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg." ~ Samuel Butler

We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth. ~ Henry Beston

"An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language." ~ Martin Buber

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be. ~ William Hazlitt

Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures. ~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Lots of people talk to animals.... Not very many listen, though.... That's the problem. ~ Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. ~ Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

I don't believe in the concept of hell, but if I did I would think of it as filled with people who were cruel to animals. ~Gary Larson

I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being. ~ Abraham Lincoln

The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in great suffering in animals, and second because it results in an incalculably great impoverishment of the human spirit. ~ Ashley Montagu

The cat could very well be man's best friend but would never stoop to admitting it.~ Doug Larson

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats ~ Albert Schweitzer

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us" ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

"A dog is the only thing on earth that will love you more than you love yourself." ~ Josh Billings

"A horse gallops with his lungs, Perseveres with his heart, And wins with his character." ~ Tesio

"A Horse! A Horse! my kingdom for a horse!" ~ Shakespeare

Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored. ~ Alice Walker

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~ Immanual Kant

"I've met many thinkers and many cats, but the wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." ~ Hippolyte Taine

"Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one" ~ Anonymous

It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal… one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly. ~Theophile Gautier

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly.~ Richard Bach

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.~ Buckminster Fuller

A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.~ Samuel Johnson

God in His wisdom made the fly, And then forgot to tell us why.~ Ogden Nash "The Fly"

"If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because you lap is warmer." ~ Alfred North Whitehead

"...he will be our friend for always and always and always." ~ Rudyard Kipling

"The best thing about animals is that they don't talk much." ~ Thornton Wilder

"When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing herself with me more than I with her." ~ Montaigne

If I were reincarnated, I'd want to come back a buzzard. Nothing hates him or envies him or wants him or needs him. He is never bothered or in danger, and he can eat anything. ~ William Faulkner

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. ~ Alice Walker

Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius. ~ Edward O. Wilson

The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous; it is indissolubly connected with the fate of men. ~ Émile Zola

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. People on horses look better than they are. People in cars look worse than they are. ~ Marya Mannes

Everyone's pet is the most outstanding. This begets mutual blindness. ~ Jean Cocteau

Animals generally return the love you lavish on them by a swift bite in passing — not unlike friends and wives. ~ Gerald Durrell

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals ~ Winston Churchill

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people ~ W. C. Fields

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

"Old age means realizing you will never own all the dogs you wanted to." ~ Joe Gores

"No heaven will not ever Heaven be; Unless my cats are there to welcome me." ~ Anonymous

"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives." ~ Sue Murphy

"To err is human, to forgive, canine" ~ Anonymous

"To err is human, to purr, feline" ~ Robert Byrne

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.~ –Leo Tolstoy

The question is not, “Can theyreason?” nor, “Can they talk?” but rather, “Can they suffer?”~ –Jeremy Bentham

All beings tremble before violence. All fear death, all love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?~ –Buddha

The eating of meat extinguishes the great seed of compassion.~ –Buddha (563-483 BC)

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late.” ~–Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist

"My little dog — a heartbeat at my feet." ~ Edith Wharton

Nothing is more sacred as the bond between a horse and a rider. No other creature can ever become so emotionally close to a human as a horse. When a horse dies, the memory lives on, because an enormous part of his owner's heart, soul, and the very existence dies also. ~ Stephanie M Thorn

Nothing moves me more - when on the way to fetching in my mare in the morning - than the sound of her neighing to me as I open the gate. Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. ~ Albert Einstein

In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence. ~ Robert Lynd

The bird of paradise alights only on the hand that does not grasp. ~ John Berry

The cat that is kissing you lovingly, has just devoured a rabbit and has left the entrails under the bed.~ Unknown

The cat who lo oks poorly and sad, has just stolen a carton of cream and is about to be sick in the hall.~ Unknown

The real measure of a day's heat is the length of a sleeping cat.~ Charles J. Brady

I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers. ~ Unknown Author

The zoo is a place for animals to study the behaviour of human beings. ~ Unknown Author

Animals have these advantages over man: They have no theologians to instruct them, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills. ~ Voltaire

The Animals of the planet are in desperate peril. Without free animal life I believe we will lose the spiritual equivalent of oxygen. ~ Alice Walker

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men. ~ St. Francis of Assisi

"If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans" ~ James Herriot

"I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained, I stand and look at them long and long." ~ Walt Whitman

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." ~ Ben Williams

"A dog maybe a man's best friend but a horse made history..." ~ Anonymous

"All of the animals except for man know that the principle business of life is to enjoy it." ~ Samuel Butler

"The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp." ~ John Berry

"And God took a handful of southernly wind, blew His breath over it and created the horse." ~ Bedouin Legend

"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person." ~ Andrew A. Rooney

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." ~ Chinese Proverb

"Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later." ~ Mary Bly

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." ~ George Elliot

"The Trouble with a kitten is That Eventually it becomes a Cat" ~ Ogden Nash

"The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too." ~ Samuel Butler

You own a dog, but you can only feed a cat. ~ Unknown

"I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it." ~ Abraham Lincoln

Shall we, because we walk on our hind feet, assume to ourselves only the privilege of imperishability? ~ George Eliot

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. ~ Anatole France

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. ~ Mohandas Gandhi

The trouble with a kitten is that when it grows up, it's always a cat. ~ Ogden Nash.

Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. ~ Alfred A. Montapert

Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way. ~ John Muir

I know at last what distinguishes man from animals: financial worries. ~ Romain Roland

The little furry buggers are just deep, deep wells you throw all your emotions into. ~ Bruce Schimmel

It is much easier to show compassion to animals. They are never wicked. ~ Haile Selassie

Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.~ William Shakespeare

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Soon or late, every dog's master's memory becomes a graveyard; peopled by wistful little furry ghosts that creep back unbidden, at times, to a semblance of their olden lives. ~ Albert Payson Terhune