"There is no more reason to believe that man descended from some inferior animal than there is to believe that a stately mansion has descended from a small cottage"
- William Jennings Bryan
About this Quote
This quote by William Jennings Bryan is a powerful statement about the origin of mankind. He is suggesting that there is no clinical proof to support the concept that human beings progressed from some lower type of animal. Instead, he is suggesting that human beings are a distinct species, produced by a greater power. He utilizes the example of a stately estate descending from a little home to show his point. Simply as an estate can not be produced from a cottage, human beings can not be developed from some lower type of animal. This quote is a reminder that people are special and should be dealt with as such. It is a pointer that we should not take our existence for granted, however rather value the distinct and special nature of our types.
"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"
