A collection of proverbs, quotes and sayings about mankind or humankind and humans in general.
There is another collection about men (male humans), but sometimes the difference between men and mankind is confusing. Stupidity is a common factor.
Showing results 1 to 50 of 79
And every human being is precious.Desmond Tutu
And what is a man without energy? Nothing - nothing at all.Mark Twain
Before men existed there were already worms to eat them.Lucebert
By exposing the absence of purpose in the laws governing the universe, science forces us to take responsibility for the welfare of ourselves, our species, and our planet.Steven Pinker
Source: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Darwin wasn't just provocative in saying that we descend from the apes - he didn't go far enough. We are apes in every way, from our long arms and tailless bodies to our habits and temperament.Frans de Waal
For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.Stephen Hawking
From the crooked timber of humanity no truly straight thing can be made.Immanuel Kant
Going to Mars would evolve humankind into a two-planet species.Buzz Aldrin
Gold is tested by fire, man by gold.
He who does not travel does not know the value of men.
Human beings are far too prone to generalize from one instance. The technical word for this, interestingly enough, is superstition.Francis Crick
Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control.Steven Pinker
Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.American Humanist Association
Source: Humanism and Its Aspirations
Humans are capable of unbelievable cruelty, whether in the name of God or while denying his existence.(unknown author)
Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships.American Humanist Association
Source: Humanism and Its Aspirations
Humans are the only animals that blush.(unknown author)
Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.Mark Twain
I had been told from school onwards that the best definition of a human being was man the tool-maker - yet I had just watched a chimp tool-maker in action. I remember that day as vividly as if it was yesterday.Jane Goodall
I had rather be an oyster than a man, the most stupid and senseless of animals.George Berkeley
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have found the missing link between the higher ape and civilized man; it is we.Konrad Lorenz
I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.Stephen Hawking
If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans. We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.Stephen Hawking
In the age of acorns, before the times of Ceres, a single barley-corn had been of more value to mankind than all the diamonds of the mines of India.Henry Brooke
Is man merely a mistake of God's? Or God merely a mistake of man?Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Is man only a blunder of God? Or is God only a blunder of man?Friedrich Nietzsche
It is said that man is wolf to man. I find this very unfair to wolves.Frans de Waal
Language is a weapon of politicians, but language is a weapon in much of human affairs.Noam Chomsky
Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Source: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Quoted: Sherlock Holmes
Man is nature's sole mistake.William S. Gilbert
Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.Mark Twain
Man is the only animal that can be bored.Erich Fromm
Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.William Golding
Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.George Orwell
Source: Animal Farm
Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.Laozi
Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.John F. Kennedy
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.Blaise Pascal
Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.Confucius
Nationalism is an infantile thing. It is the measles of mankind.Albert Einstein
Nature is not mute, it is a man who is deaf.Terence McKenna
Of the entire terrestrial vertebrate biomass on earth, wild animals constitute only about three percent, humans one-quarter, and livestock almost three-quarters!Frans de Waal
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.Albert Einstein
Our species is the only one not allowed to go to the vet to be painlessly put out of our misery.Richard Dawkins
Pain is pain, whether you're a human, or any other animal.Peter Singer
People are not clones in a monoculture, so what satisfies one will frustrate another, and the only way they can end up equal is if they are treated unequally.Steven Pinker
Source: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.Albert Einstein
Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.Stewart Udall
Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.Joseph Chilton Pearce
Progressive cultures have worked to free humanity from the brutalities of mere survival and to reduce suffering, improve society, and develop global community.(unknown author)
Sooner or later, we will have to recognise that the Earth has rights, too, to live without pollution. What mankind must know is that human beings cannot live without Mother Earth, but the planet can live without humans.Evo Morales
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