Quote

Religion may have become a codification of morality, and it may fortify it, but it's not the origin of it.

Frans de Waal

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Frans de Waal
Age: 76
Born: 1948
Born: October 29
Ethologist
Non-Fiction Writer
Primatologist
Psychologist
University Teacher
Zoologist
Den Bosch
Frans B M de Waal
Frans B. M. de Waal
F. de Waal
Origin
Morality
Religion
Become
May
Fortify

More quotes by Frans de Waal

Image
Most exotic animals are not particularly interested in people, which makes it hard to provoke them. Human-rearing gets them used to and sometimes imprinted on humans, which makes them potentially dangerous.
Frans de Waal
Image
We would much rather blame nature for what we don't like in ourselves than credit it for what we do like.
Frans de Waal
Image
There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves.
Frans de Waal
Image
The primate laugh is given in playful contexts, and as such has a strong similarity to the human laugh.
Frans de Waal
Image
The role of inequity in society is grossly underestimated. Inequity is not good for your health, basically.
Frans de Waal
Image
Humans have a lot of pro-social tendencies.
Frans de Waal
Image
Future benefits rarely figure in the minds of animals.
Frans de Waal
Image
I think we need to start thinking about grounding our moral systems in our biology.
Frans de Waal
Image
After World War II it was decided that, in order to prevent the Germans and the French from having another war, it would be better to tie them together into one economic pact so they would invest in each other and have mutual stakes. Until now, that has worked to prevent warfare between the two.
Frans de Waal
Image
Bonobo studies started in the '70s and came to fruition in the '80s. Then in the '90s, all of a sudden, boom, they ended because of the warfare in the Congo. It was really bad for the bonobo and ironic that people with their warfare were preventing us from studying the hippies of the primate world.
Frans de Waal
Image
Being both more systematically brutal than chimps and more empathetic than bonobos, we are by far the most bipolar ape. Our societies are never completely peaceful, never completely competitive, never ruled by sheer selfishness, and never perfectly moral.
Frans de Waal
Image
Morality, after all, has nothing to do with selflessness. On the contrary, self-interest is precisely the basis of the categorical imperative.
Frans de Waal
Image
It is well known that apes in the wild offer spontaneous assistance to each other, defending against leopards, say, or consoling distressed companions with tender embraces.
Frans de Waal
Image
You should know as much as you can about the human species if you have a hand in designing human society.
Frans de Waal
Image
To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals and us.
Frans de Waal
Image
When we are bad, we are worse than any primate that I know. And when we are good, we are actually better and more altruistic than any primate that I know.
Frans de Waal
Image
It is hard to get animals which normally pay little attention to each other to do things together. One can teach dolphins to jump simultaneously out of the water precisely because they show similar behavior spontaneously, but try to make two domestic cats jump together and you will fail.
Frans de Waal
Image
The development of family entities enables men to cooperate far more effectively. Instead of constantly competing for the women with other men, each man essentially has a partner assigned to him, one with whom he can establish a family.
Frans de Waal
Image
I describe in 'Chimpanzee Politics' how the alpha male needs broad support to reach the top spot. He needs some close allies and he needs many group members to be on his side.
Frans de Waal
Image
Humanity is actually much more cooperative and empathic than [it's] given credit for.
Frans de Waal