"We can never know the inner life of an animal with any degree of certainty, any more than we can truly know the inner life of a fellow human being. And that is why anthropomorphism can be dangerous, and why our best attempts at communicating with animals must be tempered with awe and respect for all that we do not know and will never know. By gifting animals with human characteristics, values, or virtues, we may be diminishing an inner brilliance animals possess that lies far beyond our everyday imaginings. We must let animals be animals. While it is important to emphasize our similarities with animals, we must also grant them their differences, their uniqueness, their mysteries."
Animals as Guides for the Soul Stories of Life-Changing Encounters
A reminder not to anthropomorphize animals, whose inner life we can never know.