Frans de Waal · 304 pages
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“So, don’t believe anyone who says that since nature is based on a struggle for life, we need to live like this as well. Many animals survive not by eliminating each other or keeping everything for themselves, but by cooperating and sharing. This applies most definitely to pack hunters, such as wolves or killer whales, but also to our closest relatives, the primates.”
― Frans de Waal, quote from The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
“Robin Hood had it right.Humanity's deepest wish is to spread the wealth.”
― Frans de Waal, quote from The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
“Why should caring for others begin with the self? There is an abundance of rather vague ideas about this issue, which I am sure neuroscience will one day resolve. Let me offer my own “hand waving” explanation by saying that advanced empathy requires both mental mirroring and mental separation. The mirroring allows the sight of another person in a particular emotional state to induce a similar state in us. We literally feel their pain, loss, delight, disgust, etc., through so-called shared representations. Neuroimaging shows that our brains are similarly activated as those of people we identify with. This is an ancient mechanism: It is automatic, starts early in life, and probably characterizes all mammals. But we go beyond this, and this is where mental separation comes in. We parse our own state from the other’s. Otherwise, we would be like the toddler who cries when she hears another cry but fails to distinguish her own distress from the other’s. How could she care for the other if she can’t even tell where her feelings are coming from? In the words of psychologist Daniel Goleman, “Self-absorption kills empathy.” The child needs to disentangle herself from the other so as to pinpoint the actual source of her feelings.”
― Frans de Waal, quote from The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
“We have a tendency to describe the human condition in lofty terms, such as a quest for freedom or striving for a virtuous life, but the life sciences hold a more mundane view: It’s all about security, social companionships, and a full belly. There is obvious tension between both views, which recalls that famous dinner conversation between a Russian literary critic and the writer Ivan Turgenev: 'We haven’t yet solved the problem of God,' the critic yelled, 'and you want to eat!”
― Frans de Waal, quote from The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
“Denmark has incredibly low crime rates, and parents feel that what a child needs most is frisk luft, or fresh air. The”
― Frans de Waal, quote from The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
“biology is usually called upon to justify a society based on selfish principles, but we should never forget that it has also produced the glue that holds communities together.”
― Frans de Waal, quote from The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
Frans de Waal
Born place: in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Born date October 29, 1948
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“Plakala. Plakala, protože byla smutná, že není ta žena, kteoru si muž ve tmě přitáhne k sobě. Plakala, protože byla zklamaná a unavená. Plakala potichu, ale seděla narovnaná a ramena se jí ani nezachvěla. Byla sama udivená, že pláče tak důstojně. Když si špičkou jazyka přejela rty, cítila slanou chuť slz, které jí stékaly po tvářích. Byly jako voda na plátně, která se valila proudem a hrozila, že odnese dům farmářů a taky tu starou Joséphine, která si neuměla představit, že by mohla plakat v setmělém kině vedle jiného kluka než Antoina. Dávala jí tak sbohem; a plakala proto, že se s ní loučila. Loučila se s tou hodnou, rozumnou a mírnou Joséphine, která se vdala úplně nezkušená, vychovala dvě děti, snažila se dělat všechno nejlíp, která jednala vždycky správně a rozumně. Ta teď mizela a objevovala se jiná Joséphine. Ta psala knihu, seděla v kině s mužem a čekala, že ji obejme! Nevěděla, jestli se tomu má smát nebo má plakat.”
― Katherine Pancol, quote from The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles
“Are you sure this isn’t crazy?” “Oh, I’m sure it is crazy. But isn’t that our thing? Or have you gotten boring now?”
― Cindi Madsen, quote from Falling for Her Fiance
“We need a PD to talk to a guy in lock up! A Mr.” he checked the file, “DeWayne Johnson.”
“Oh I know that case,” Adam said. “That’s the gentleman from the North Philly “social club” charged with triple homicide.”
“I’ll take it,” I said.
“Hold on!” Braden stopped me. “You can’t go have a chat with a gang banger in lock up.”
“Why not?”
“He’s violent.”
“That’s probably why he’s charged with triple homicide, Braden. Although I will point out that he’s innocent until proven guilty even if he is a gangsta.”
“There must be a male PD around.”
“I’ve interviewed violent males before and this guy’s just a shooter anyway. I feel reasonably confident that they took the gun away from him when they arrested him.”
“Yeah, but they’ll lock you in with him. By the time they opened the door he could hurt you.”
“Well they’re not going to let him out to come see me. Where do you think I meet my clients? Starbucks?”
― N.M. Silber, quote from The Law of Attraction
“Love is love. It’s rarer in Faerie than it used to be—rarer than it should be, if you ask me. If you can find it, you should cling to it, and never let anything interfere. Besides, he has a nice ass.”
― Seanan McGuire, quote from The Winter Long
“Whatever. If she’s only here to get laid then the bitch is barking up the wrong tree. Because unless she has green eyes, red hair and flawless skin with a light dusting of freckles, then my dick does not want it… Stupid fucking dick.”
― K.C. Lynn, quote from Resisting Temptation
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