Optimistic and constructive books

Let me tell you how I got to this book.

You may already know the dictum of Jean Paul Sartre about animals as ‘animated things’, that is animals are moving things without emotions. This has revolted me always, but only recently I delved into this, subsequent to my encounter with a calf.

I have been observing this calf being licked tenderly by its mother cow, particularly on his head. This is a calf that always stays away from the rest of the calves. Then, after he came to see me over a number of days, once he approached me, while I was sitting down and observing.

I tried to reach out, but he moved back. So I withdrew my hand and touched my own head, the way his mother does on his head. The calf’s face relaxed. And, for an instant, his eyes brightened, and the skin around them crinkled as if he was smiling!!

This threw me off for a while. I searched on Amazon and found this book written by Darwin. A really informative book, with lots of comparison between animals and us.

You bet, my opinion on animals changed after that.

(The picture above has been taken during a mountain hiking (Pyrenees mountains, France) at 2400 metre altitude this summer)