Here are some of our favourite animal quotes.  Some of them may make you smile.  Others may make you sad.

"Cows are amongst the gentlest of breathing creatures.   None show more passionate tenderness to their young when deprived of them, and in short, I am not ashamed to profess a deep love for these quiet creatures."   Thomas de Quincey

"Love the animals.  God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled."   Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals."  Mahatma Gandhi

"Who can believe there is no soul behind those luminous eyes" Theophile Gautier

"When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport.  When a tiger wants to murder a man, he calls it ferosity."  George Bernard Shaw

"Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to."  Mark Twain

"All of the animals except for man know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it."  

"Animals are such agreeable creatures.  They ask no questions.   They pass no criticisms."  George Elliot

Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." Edward O. Wilson

"Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar."   Bradley Millar

You enter into a certain amount of madness when you marry someone with pets."    Nora Ephron

"You can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."   Immanuel Kant.

"I know what distinguishes man from animals.   Financial worries."   Romain.

A robin redbreast in a cage puts all heaven in a rage.   William Blake

"The horse......if God made anything more beautiful, he kept it for himself."

"A canter is the cure for all evil."   Benjamin Disraeli

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." Anatole France

"The question is not,  "Can they reason?" nor "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?"  Jeremy Bentham

"I like pigs.   Dogs look up to us.   Cats look down on us.   Pigs treat us as equals."   Winston Churchill

"Animals can communicate quite well.  And they do.  And generally they are ignored."   Alice Walker

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and, little by little, they become its visible soul."   Jean Cocteau

"It's really the cat's house.  We just pay the mortgage."   Author unknown

'Never wear anything that panics the cat" P. J. O'Rourke

"If there were a universal sound depicting peace, I would surely vote for the  purr."  Barbara L. Diamond

"I have been told that the training procedure for cats was difficult.  It's not.   Mine had me trained within 2 days."   Bill Dana

"There's no need for sculpture in a home that has a cat."   Wesley Bates

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods.   Cats have never forgotten this."  Anonymous

"If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much."   Mark Twain.

"In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him."   Dereke Bruce

"Dogs eat.   Cats. dine."   Anne Taylor

"Cats have owners.   Cats have staff."   Anonymous

"For an animal person, an animal-less home is no home at all." Cleveland Amory.

"A dog is the only thing on earth that will love you more than you love yourself."   Josh Billings.

"I think I could turn and live with animals.   They are so placid and self contained.   In stand and look at them long and long."   Walt Whitman.

"If you think dogs can't count, try putting three biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them."   Phil Pastoret

"They never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation."  Jerome K. Jerome

"Dogs" lives are too short.  Their only fault really."   Agnes Sligh Turnbull.

"My goal in life is to be as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."

"An old dog, even more than an old spouse, always feels like doing what you feel like doing."    Robert Brault

"One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why."   Author unknown

"Anyone who doesn't know what soap tastes like, never washed a dog."   Franklin P. Jones

"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in?   I think this is how dogs spend their lives."   Sue Murphy

"My little dog....the heartbeat at my feet."   Edith Wharton

"You can say any foolish thing to a dog and a dog will give you a look that says, "You're right!  I never would have thought of that."   Dave Barry

"To err is human,  to forgive, canine." Anonymous

"Old age means realising you will never own all the dogs you wanted to."   Joe Gores