There's actually a lot of evidence in primates and other animals that they return favors. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
When it comes to social interaction, the chimpanzees appear to be just as intelligent as we are. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
The more self-aware an animal is, the more empathetic it tends to be. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
The chimpanzees could tear me apart in no time. They're many times stronger than we are. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
The hamadryas baboon is a harem holder where one male mates with multiple females. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Chimps don't have language. Humans actively instruct others about how things should be done. Chimpanzees probably pick up cultural traditions by observation. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Wild groups of chimpanzees attack their enemies like gangs. What they completely lack, precisely because of their strong territorial behavior, is a… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental,… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
I describe in 'Chimpanzee Politics' how the alpha male needs broad support to reach the top spot. He needs some close allies… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
There's a long tradition in Western thought that humans are not shackled by biology, whereas animals are pure instinct machines. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
The evolutionary struggle for survival is really a self-serving series of blows and stabs, and yet it can lead to extremely social… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Male chimpanzees have an extraordinarily strong drive for dominance. They're constantly jockeying for position. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
In Africa, we have the bush meat trade, which means that, on a very large scale, animals are being killed in the… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Most exotic animals are not particularly interested in people, which makes it hard to provoke them. Human-rearing gets them used to and… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Following rules is, of course, the reason the dog is man's best friend is because the dog follows rules, and they actually… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Popular culture bombards us with examples of animals being humanized for all sorts of purposes, ranging from education to entertainment to satire… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
The term 'alpha female' originated in my field of animal behavior, but has acquired new meaning. It refers to women who are… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Being both more systematically brutal than chimps and more empathetic than bonobos, we are by far the most bipolar ape. Our societies… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
I've argued that many of what philosophers call moral sentiments can be seen in other species. In chimpanzees and other animals, you… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
The intuitive connection children feel with animals can be a tremendous source of joy. The unconditional love received from pets, and the… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
“Along with people in other creative professions, such as artists and musicians, many scientists experience this transcendence. I do so every day.… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
It is not only visitors to the zoo who are fascinated but uneasy in the presence of chimpanzees; the same is true… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
“on August 16, 1996, when an eight-year-old female gorilla named Binti Jua helped a three-year-old boy who had fallen eighteen feet into… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Although elephants are far more distantly related to us than the great apes, they seem to have evolved similar social and cognitive… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Experiments with animals have long been handicapped by our anthropocentric attitude: We often test them in ways that work fine with humans… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Chimpanzees, typically, kiss and embrace after fights. They first make eye contact from a distance to see the mood of the others.… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
It is well known that apes in the wild offer spontaneous assistance to each other, defending against leopards, say, or consoling distressed… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Sometimes I read about someone saying with great authority that animals have no intentions and no feelings, and I wonder, 'Doesn't this… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
If you want to design a successful human society you need to know what kind of animal we are. Are we a… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee's eyes, an intelligent self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals,… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Chimpanzees have very strong preferences and aversions that are completely personality-linked. The people who are unsuccessful in working with chimpanzees are those… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
The fact that the apes exist and that we can study them is extremely important and makes us reflect on ourselves and… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
We are by far the most contradictory of all primates. An animal with this much internal conflict has never lived on this… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
There has been so much underestimating of animal cognition that to perhaps overestimate it, as I probably do, is probably a healthy… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
A chimpanzee who is really gearing up for a fight doesn't waste time with gestures but just goes ahead and attacks. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
We need to separate the process of evolution - which is, indeed, a self-serving process - and the actual motivations of animals. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
If both parties have a stake in the other, the chances of them killing each other are going to be reduced. — Frans de Waal Copy Share
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… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
The possibility that empathy resides in parts of the brain so ancient that we share them with rats should give pause to anyone comparing… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
“on August 16, 1996, when an eight-year-old female gorilla named Binti Jua helped a three-year-old boy who had fallen eighteen feet into the primate… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
We start out postulating sharp boundaries, such as between humans and apes, or between apes and monkeys, but are in fact dealing with sand… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
Perhaps it's just me, but I am wary of any persons whose belief system is the only thing standing between them and repulsive behavior. — Frans de Waal Copy Share
Personally, I think it is possible to build a society that is moral on a nonreligious basis, but the jury is still out on… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
“humans are a strange lot. We have the power to analyze and explore the world around us, yet panic as soon as the evidence… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
Armies are a purely human invention. Most soldiers who go to war nowadays don't even do it because they're inherently aggressive. — Frans de Waal Copy Share
There's actually a lot of evidence in primates and other animals that they return favors. — Frans de Waal Copy Share
“In a world divided by chimpophiles and bonobophiles, we all had a good laugh when Stephen peeled his banana. (62)” — Frans de Waal Copy Share
In Africa, we have the bush meat trade, which means that, on a very large scale, animals are being killed in the forests and… — Frans de Waal Copy Share
