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If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee's eyes, an intelligent self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals, what must we be?

Frans de Waal

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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
Look
Personality
Self
Deep
Looks
Motivational
Chimpanzee
Must
Animal
Chimpanzees
Eyes
Assured
Eye
Straight
Inspirational
Animals
Back
Intelligent

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The enemy of science is not religion... . The true enemy is the substitution of thought, reflection, and curiosity with dogma.
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Studies of reconciliation in primates have demonstrated that if the relationship value increases between two parties they are more willing to make peace.
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There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves.
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Science is not inherently good.
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Humanity is actually much more cooperative and empathic than [it's] given credit for.
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Humans have a lot of pro-social tendencies.
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You should know as much as you can about the human species if you have a hand in designing human society.
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The fact that the apes exist and that we can study them is extremely important and makes us reflect on ourselves and our human nature. In that sense alone, you need to protect the apes.
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It wasn't God who introduced us to morality rather, it was the other way around. God was put into place to help us live the way we felt we ought to.
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The more self-aware an animal is, the more empathetic it tends to be.
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I call the notion that we are nothing but killer apes the Beethoven fallacy. Beethoven was disorganized and messy, and yet his music is the epitome of order.
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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.
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Most men probably wouldn't want to live the lives of bonobos. They're constantly clinging to their mothers' apron strings. They lack the ability to make decisions about their own fates, something that we and male chimpanzees practically consider our birthright.
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People want to work with somebody who feels shame, who worries about the perceptions of others. Dishonesty is something we don't like in others.
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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.
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Exclusive homosexuality is not very common in nature.
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Darwin wasn't just provocative in saying that we descend from the apes - he didn't go far enough. We are apes in every way, from our long arms and tailless bodies to our habits and temperament.
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Male bonobos really don't fit the human male ideal.
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Religion may have become a codification of morality, and it may fortify it, but it's not the origin of it.
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The role of inequity in society is grossly underestimated. Inequity is not good for your health, basically.
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