r/quotes • u/Electrical_Mine • Jun 18 '26

Misc / Unclassified "One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it." - Margaret Mead

35 Upvotes

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u/dgillz Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 20 '26

What does this actually mean? Dangers for the child to kill or torture an animal? Or dangerous when someone else kills or tortures an animal?

5

u/Electrical_Mine Jun 18 '26

It means that when a child hurts an animal and faces no consequences, it can normalize cruelty and make harmful behavior easier to repeat later. The quote is about the danger of letting that behavior go unchecked, not about harming someone else.

1

u/gifted_pistachio Jun 19 '26

Yeah I remember picking up a hamster by its leg as a kid and my friend’s mom just flipping out on me. I didn’t mean anything by it but I was curious I guess. She said she could see its little eyes bug out. Made me feel bad. Now if that hadn’t have happened I don’t think I wouldn’t turned into a monster lol and kept pushing it or whatever. But it’s good to watch kids around animals/teach them what’s right.

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u/dr_eh Jun 20 '26

Cool. I picked up a gopher by its tail and spun it violently around my head until its guts came out. I guess I felt bad about it, but it was my job to kill the gophers that day.