Argument: Humans can do wrong so can be morally inferior to animals

Support

Mark Twain. “What Is Man”. 1906 – “The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot.”[1]

• “Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out. Of all the creatures ever made [man] is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one… that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain.”[2]

• “Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.”[3]

• “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”

Yahoo Answers comment by Kafkasmi – “Yeah, we’re superior to animals in progress, so much so that we’re killing ourselves with our super powers of ‘knowledge’. We should be proud.”[4]

Leonardo Da Vinci – “Truly man is the king of beast for his brutality excedes theirs. We live by the death of others. We are burial places.”[5]

Madame De Stael – “The more I see of men the more I like dogs.”[6]

George Bernard Shaw – “I never thought much of the courage of a lion-tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people.”

Samuel Butler, British Author, Painter, Photographer, and Art Critic – “All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.”[7]

James Herriot, English Veterinarian and Author – “If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”[8]