--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If apes are given the right to humane…" description: "\"If apes are given the right to humane treatment, it just might become harder to deny that same right to their human cousins.\" — Adam Cohen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/adam-cohen-6582_apes_if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-tr_2874257.jpg" --- # If apes are given the right to humane treatment, it just… ![“If apes are given the right to humane treatment, it just might become harder to deny that same right to their human cousins.” quote by Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/adam-cohen-6582_apes_if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-tr_2874257.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/adam-cohen-6582_apes_if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-tr_2874257.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/adam-cohen-6582_apes_if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-tr_2874257.jpg) > “If apes are given the right to humane treatment, it just might become harder to deny that same right to their human cousins.” [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Granting humane treatment to apes challenges our moral consistency toward humans. **In simple terms:** Treating apes well forces us to consider human rights. Key Takeaway Reflect on extending rights across species. Themes ethics animal rights humanity Mood thoughtful provocative Type philosophical debate When to use this quote - zoo management - legislation - public awareness campaigns Key Concepts moral philosophy speciesism rights discourse Questions to Reflect On - What rights should non‑humans share with humans? - How do we balance scientific research with humane treatment? A Different Perspective Cultural resistance may impede broader acceptance of animal rights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cousins/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) ## Related quotes > [Because animals are property, we consider as "humane treatment" that we would regard as torture if it were inflicted on humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/because-animals-are-property-we-consider-as-humane-treatment-that-we/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) > [“Beyond the economics of production efficiency, animal welfare laws that require "humane" treatment are really not about animals; they're about humans and making humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-francione/beyond-the-economics-of-production-efficiency-animal-welfare-laws/) Gary Francione > [There is no room for legal hair-splitting when it comes to the humane treatment of detainees - not in a nation founded on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-durbin/there-is-no-room-for-legal-hair-splitting-when-it-comes-to-the-humane/) [Dick Durbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-durbin/) > [“It is impossible to reconcile the principles of humane treatment with the inherently inhumane act of sending animals to slaughter, irrespective of how “good”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-bohanec/it-is-impossible-to-reconcile-the-principles-of-humane-treatment-with/) [Hope Bohanec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-bohanec/) > [“What, then, is the solution to this moral schizophrenia we have about animals? According to Francione, we only have two choices: we either continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-torres/what-then-is-the-solution-to-this-moral-schizophrenia-we-have-about/) [Bob Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-torres/) > [To deny me the right to err is therefore to deny me the right to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-hook/to-deny-me-the-right-to-err-is-therefore-to-deny-me-the-right-to/) [Sidney Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-hook/) > [The inherent right in the people to reform their government, I do not deny; and they have another right, and that is to resist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/the-inherent-right-in-the-people-to-reform-their-government-i-do-not/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [I look upon those who would deny others the right to urge and argue their position, however irksome and pernicious they may seem, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-borah/i-look-upon-those-who-would-deny-others-the-right-to-urge-and-argue/) [William Borah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-borah/) > [“Some folks require the park’s wildness and yet deny its right to exercise its wildness upon them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-h-whittlesey/some-folks-require-the-park-s-wildness-and-yet-deny-its-right-to/) [Lee H. Whittlesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-h-whittlesey/) > [We deny the right of any portion of the species to decide for another portion what is and what is not their 'proper sphere.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-taylor-mill/we-deny-the-right-of-any-portion-of-the-species-to-decide-for-another/) Harriet Taylor Mill > [Sir, with no intention to take offence, I deny your right to put words into my mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/sir-with-no-intention-to-take-offence-i-deny-your-right-to-put-words/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [A large body of people, sufficient to make a nation, have come to the conclusion that they will have a government of a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/a-large-body-of-people-sufficient-to-make-a-nation-have-come-to-the/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [I deny the right of Congress to force a slaveholding State upon an unwilling people. I deny their right to force a free State…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-douglas/i-deny-the-right-of-congress-to-force-a-slaveholding-state-upon-an/) [Stephen A. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-douglas/) > [Those who deny the right of a jury to protect an individual in resisting an unjust law of the government, deny him all defence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/those-who-deny-the-right-of-a-jury-to-protect-an-individual-in/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-man-who-prefers-his-country-before-any-other-duty-shows-the-same/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) ## More by Adam Cohen > [Congress needs to toughen the laws protecting elections and make clear that anyone interfering with democracy will pay a stiff price.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/congress-needs-to-toughen-the-laws-protecting-elections-and-make/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [In a perfect world, we would have put users in control of their information when the Internet was first created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/in-a-perfect-world-we-would-have-put-users-in-control-of-their/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [With increased awareness should come greater caution about how confessions are used at trial - and a greater willingness to overturn convictions when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/with-increased-awareness-should-come-greater-caution-about-how/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [Being unemployed - or working at minimum wage - is rough in the best of circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/being-unemployed-or-working-at-minimum-wage-is-rough-in-the-best-of/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [The Supreme Court's most conservative Justices have presented themselves as great respecters of precedent and opponents of 'judicial activism' - of judges using the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/the-supreme-court-s-most-conservative-justices-have-presented/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [To be rejected on account of old age may or may not feel the same as being rejected on the basis of race or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/to-be-rejected-on-account-of-old-age-may-or-may-not-feel-the-same-as/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [Our movements reveal a great deal about who we are. A record of our locations over time can reveal whether we go to tent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/our-movements-reveal-a-great-deal-about-who-we-are-a-record-of-our/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [A federal Voters' Bill of Rights could press the states to put non-partisan managers in charge of elections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/a-federal-voters-bill-of-rights-could-press-the-states-to-put-non/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [There was a rule, back when I was an education lawyer in Alabama, about visiting public schools: always go on a rainy day so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/there-was-a-rule-back-when-i-was-an-education-lawyer-in-alabama-about/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [When the government takes video of people in public places, the images should only be kept as long as they may reasonably be needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/when-the-government-takes-video-of-people-in-public-places-the-images/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [Set in the advertising world of the 1960s, 'Mad Men' is stunning to look at - a Camelot-era parade of smartly dressed professionals lounging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/set-in-the-advertising-world-of-the-1960s-mad-men-is-stunning-to-look/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets have a great deal of information about all of us - and the government wants to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/twitter-facebook-and-other-social-media-outlets-have-a-great-deal-of/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [There is a lot of talk in conservative circles about judicial modesty and deferring to the political branches. That view of judging often overlooks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/there-is-a-lot-of-talk-in-conservative-circles-about-judicial-modesty/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > [Age discrimination is illegal. But when compared with discrimination against racial minorities and women, it is a second-class civil rights issue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/age-discrimination-is-illegal-but-when-compared-with-discrimination/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) > ['Hard Times' does not romanticize the Depression, but at least a few of Mr. Terkel's subjects managed to find silver linings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/hard-times-does-not-romanticize-the-depression-but-at-least-a-few-of/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) [Explore all 98 Adam Cohen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) ## More Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) J. Lee Thompson > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If apes are given the right to humane treatment, it just might become harder to deny that same right to their human cousins.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Cohen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-treatment-it-just-might-become/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-treatment-it-just-might-become/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/adam-cohen-6582_apes_if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-tr_2874257.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/adam-cohen-6582_apes_if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-tr_2874257.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/adam-cohen-6582_apes_if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-tr_2874257.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If apes are given the right to humane treatment, it just might become harder to deny that same right to…” — Adam Cohen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adam Cohen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If apes are given the right...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-treatment-it-just-might-become/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/if-apes-are-given-the-right-to-humane-treatment-it-just-might-become/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```