Biology Quote by Frans de Waal

““biology is usually called upon to justify a society based on selfish principles, but we should never forget that it has also produced the glue that holds communities together.””

Frans de Waal

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More by Frans de Waal

Dogmatists have one advantage: they are poor listeners.

Frans de Waal

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If both parties have a stake in the other, the chances of them killing each other are going to be reduced.

Frans de Waal

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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

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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

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Science is not inherently good.

Frans de Waal

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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

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“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

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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

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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

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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

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“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

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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

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Explore all 143 Frans de Waal quotes

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