Animals are sentient, intelligent, perceptive, funny and entertaining. We owe them a duty of care as we do to children.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the intelligence and emotional capacity of animals, suggesting we have a responsibility to care for them.
Michael Morpurgo's quote highlights the perspective that animals possess qualities such as sentience and intelligence, similar to those we recognize in children. He calls upon humans to acknowledge their duty to care for animals with the same gravity as that for vulnerable beings, emphasizing the ethical obligation we have to ensure their well-being and treat them with respect.
In practice
During a speech on animal rights, I could use this quote to emphasize our responsibility to protect vulnerable beings.
There is the myth that writing books for children is easier than writing books for grownups, whereas we know that truly great books for children are works of genius, whether it's 'Alice in Wonderland' or the 'Gruffalo' or 'Northern Lights.' When it's a great book, it's a great book, whether it's for children or not.
Strange questions are the more interesting ones. Children by and large don't try to trip you up... they want to find out how you do this funny thing that you do... if they've loved a story they love to know how it started.
Write because you love it and not because it is something that you think you should do. Always write about something or somebody you know about - something that you feel deeply and passionately about. Never try and force it.
It is really important that focusing on things such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting doesn't inhibit the creative flow. When I was at school there was a huge focus on copying and testing and it put me off words and stories for years.
The most important thing is to live an interesting life. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open. Talk to people and visit interesting places, and don't forget to ask questions. To be a writer you need to drink in the world around you so it's always there in your head.
Natural selection is not gene centrist and nor is biology all about genes; our comprehending minds are a result of our fast evolving culture.
There is the strange power we have of changing facts by the force of the imagination.
Things like that happen all the time in this great big world of ours. It's like taking a boat out on a beautiful lake on a beautiful day and thinking both the sky and the lake are beautiful. So stop eating yourself up alive. Things will go where they're supposed to go if you just let them take their natural course.
I am sorry to have to inform you that I do not believe in the Bible as a divine revelation, & therefore not in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Are people the best judges of their own happiness, or outsiders? In defining happiness, should we think of entire lives or of shorter periods such as moments, days, or years? And to what extent are virtue and happiness linked?
I have always said that often the religion you were born with becomes more important to you as you see the universality of truth.
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