Indeed, if "biology is chemistry with history," as somebody has said, then nature writing is biology with love.

If human nature eventually is going to take the place of nature everywhere, those of us who have been naturalists will have to transpose the faith in nature which is inherent in the profession to a faith in man-if necessary, man alone in the world.

To relive the relationship between owner and slave we can consider how we treat our cars and dogs - a dog exercising a somewhat similar leverage on our mercies and an automobile being comparable in value to a slave in those days

Men greet each other with a sock on the arm, women with a hug, and the hug wears better in the long run.

It would be hard to define chaos better than as a world where children decide they don't want to live.

If a person sings quietly to himself on the street people smile with approval; but if he talks it's not alright; they think he's crazy. The singer is presumed to be happy and the talker unhappy.

Animals are stylized characters in a kind of old saga - stylized because even the most acute of them have little leeway as they play out their parts.