When humans behave murderously, such as inflicting senseless slaughter of innocents in warfare, we like to blame it on some dark, 'animalistic'… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
War is evitable if conditions are such that the costs of making war are higher than the benefits. — 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
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 Image
After World War II it was decided that, in order to prevent the Germans and the French from having another war, it… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
We, who think like animals living in small groups, must structure a global world. We believe in universal human rights and believe… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if we’d known the bonobo first and the chimpanzee only later—or not at… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Females avoid conflict. They are afraid of violence. The males, on the other hand, are less averse to strife. But once conflict… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Bonobo studies started in the '70s and came to fruition in the '80s. Then in the '90s, all of a sudden, boom,… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
If you look at human society, it is very easy, of course, to compare our warfare and territoriality with the chimpanzee. But… — 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
