“Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.”

“Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.”

“Let us eat and drink neither forgetting death unduly nor remembering it. The Lord hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, etc., and the less we think about it the better.”

“They say the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, 'Can he name a kitten?”

“All animals except man know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.”

“For society indeed of all sorts, except of course that of a few intimate friends, he had an unconquerable aversion. "I always did hate those people," he said, "and they always have hated and always will hate me. I am an Ihsmael by instinct as much as by accident of circumstances, but if I keep out of society I shall be less vulnerable than Ishmaels generally are. The moment a man goes into society, he becomes vulnerable all round.”

“To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know he is dead.”