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
You should know as much as you can about the human species if you have a hand in designing human society. Of… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Empathy probably started out as a mechanism to improve maternal care. Mammalian mothers who were attentive to their young's needs were more… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
Why not assume that our humanity, including the self-control needed for livable societies, is built into us? Does anyone truly believe that… — 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
You need to indoctrinate empathy out of people in order to arrive at extreme capitalist positions. — 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
If you are a cooperative animal you need to watch what you get. If you, or even a whole community, invest in… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
I think we need to start thinking about grounding our moral systems in our biology. — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
I'm personally a nonbeliever, so I'm struggling with if we really need religion. — 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 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 all. The… — 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 also to… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
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 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 the primate… — Frans de Waal Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 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
