The chimpanzees could tear me apart in no time. They're many times stronger than we are.

Most exotic animals are not particularly interested in people, which makes it hard to provoke them. Human-rearing gets them used to and sometimes imprinted on humans, which makes them potentially dangerous.

If I were God, I'd work on the reach of empathy.

There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves.

When someone brutally kills someone else, we call him "animalistic." But we consider ourselves "human" when we give to the poor.

Chimpanzees, typically, kiss and embrace after fights. They first make eye contact from a distance to see the mood of the others. Then they approach and kiss and embrace.

Empathy probably started out as a mechanism to improve maternal care. Mammalian mothers who were attentive to their young's needs were more likely to rear successful offspring.