Erik Satie

“ They are even more than intelligent—they are polite. Rarely is an animal rude towards man. It is man who shows a lack in courtesy towards the animal.
For example. A cat is asleep on a sofa; a man comes—and chases the cat away. I have never seen it the other way round—the cat coming and chasing the man from the sofa.
Painters and sculptors have often portrayed animals. In which case these artists are called—"Animalists." They—the animals—seem to ignore their opportunities. They are never called humanistic animals. There is no reciprocity. ”

“ It is an open letter, so I permitted myself the great pleasure of opening it before reading it to you.
Pray forgive me.
LADIES,
Gentlemen:
Michelet has modestly said that the animals are our inferior brothers, which means that man is the beast's superior brother. We are without any opinion of animals on the score.
What we do know, is that they are good citizens of Nature; that they have rights and duties; and that their intelligence is considerable. Some of them are designated as Domestic animals. Why? I know not.
A great deal has been said about the intelligence of animals. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1925, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 97 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”