"How important it is, then, that the child be taught to govern its passions! How important that it be taught to be kind, gentle, loving, and humane; and in all the range of human thought there is not a better, wiser, or more expedient way of accomplishing this end than by teaching kindness towards God's lower creatures. If children are thus taught they will have instilled into their hearts those principles of action which will make them kind and merciful not only to the lower animals, but also toward their fellow-men as they attain to manhood. Let them be taught that the lower animals are God's creatures, as they themselves are, put here by a common Heavenly Father, each for its own special purpose, and that they have the same right to life and protection. Let them be taught that principle recognised by all noble-hearted men, that it is only a depraved, debased, and cowardly nature that will injure an inferior, defenceless creature, simply because it is in its power to do so, and that there is no better, no grander test of true bravery and nobility of character than one's treatment of the lower animals."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
MysticsPhilosophers from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesAnimal rights activistsTheologians from Illinois
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
pp. 6-7
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Trine
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ralph Waldo Trine
(October 26, 1866 – November 8, 1958) was an American philosopher, author, and teacher. He wrote many books on the .
7 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ralph Waldo Trine →
Related Quotes
"The tender and humane passion in the human heart is too precious a quality to allow it to be hardened or effaced by p…"
"The child who has been taught to realise the claims that God's lower creatures have upon him, whose heart has been to…"
"After looking carefully into the matter, and after some years' experience in its non-use, I can state without hesitan…"
"The only really consistent humanitarian is the one who is not a flesh-eater; and great, I am satisfied, will be the r…"
"The time will come in the world's history, and a movement is setting in that direction even now, when it will be deem…"
"When we study the habits of animals in a truly sympathetic way and become thoroughly acquainted with them and with th…"
"Scientific education is catholic; it embraces the whole field of human learning. No student can master all knowledge …"
"Honest investigation is but the application of common sense to the solution of the unknown. Science does not wait on …"
"Years of drought and famine come and years of flood and famine come, and the climate is not changed with dance, libat…"
"The verb is relatively of much greater importance in an Indian tongue than in a civilized language."