"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be"
- William Hazlitt
About this Quote
This quote by William Hazlitt speaks with the special nature of humanity. It recommends that humans are the only creatures that are able to identify the difference between what is and also what must be. This capability to recognize the gap between fact and also possibility is what establishes us aside from other pets. We are the only species that can laugh and also weep in action to this distinction. We can laugh in pleasure at the capacity of what could be, and also weep in sadness at the truth of what is. This quote talks to the power of human emotion and also the capability to identify the potential of what can be. It is this acknowledgment that makes us special and allows us to strive for a far better future.
"Often and often afterwards, the beloved Aunt would ask me why I had never told anyone how I was being treated. Children tell little more than animals, for what comes to them they accept as eternally established"
"Certainly it is wrong to be cruel to animals and the destruction of a whole species can be a great evil. The capacity for feelings of pleasure and pain and for the form of life of which animals are capable clearly impose duties of compassion and humanity in their case"
