G.C. Lichtenberg:
"It is a good thing Heaven has not given us the power to alter our bodies as much as we would like to and as much as our theories might happen to require. One man would cover himself with eyes, another with sexual organs, a third with ears, etc."
Desmond Morris:
"There are one hundred and ninety-three living species of monkeys and apes. One hundred and
ninety-two of them are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens."
Desmond Morris:
"There are one hundred and ninety-three living species of monkeys and apes. One hundred and
ninety-two of them are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens."
If I get to quote one Marathi poem as a tribute to John Gray's book "Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals", 2003, it would be this:
म. म. देशपांडे - 'भरवसा':
"नंगधडंग खार
नाही विचार
की कुणी पाहतो
चाहतो
हा कावळाही तसाच
कमरेला वस्त्र नाही
बेटय़ाच्या
अनावृत इथे सारे
पशु, पक्षी, वृक्ष, वारे
आवृत माणसाने
मात्र कसा
गमावला भरवसा"
(quoted in Loksatta here.)
The poem ends with these words :
"bare everything here
animals, birds, trees, winds
attired man
though has
lost the trust."
p.s.
Avadhoot Dongre (अवधूत डोंगरे) informed on July 2 2013:
"...देशपांड्यांचा उल्लेख 'रेघे'वर मागे एकदा आलेला आहे. दिलीप चित्र्यांच्या 'साहित्य आणि अस्तित्त्वभान - १' ह्या शब्दालय प्रकाशनाने प्रकाशित केलेल्या खंडातही या देशपांड्यांच्या एका कवितेबद्दलचं म्हणणं आहे. आणि बहुतेक देशपांड्यांच्या कवितांचं एक पुस्तक पद्मगंधा प्रकाशनाने काढलंय. ही माहिती कदाचित तुम्हाला आधीपासून असेल. पण तुम्ही त्याबद्दल उत्सुकता दाखवलेली दिसली म्हणून..."