In Britain, the great hidden secret of talking animals and children's literature is how political it was in its bones, beneath the obvious cuteness.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
There I was on the front page of the 'London Times' as speaker of the House with an animal on top of my head. I liked it, but it was not what my staff thought was appropriately dignified.
The more you learn about animals and animal rights - it's an intriguing, fascinating world.
It must be the Brit in me, because I like animals.
It is time my colleagues got real. All British universities doing worthwhile research use animals, and, instead of hiding, they should be boasting of their achievements.
I grew up under the British system, which I think is horrific for children - very, very strict - a system that did not recognize children as being individuals. You were small animals earning the right to be human.
Humans have always used animals to depict ideas about themselves: ideas about their status, about their position in life and society and the world.
I'm not a political animal, I'm a curious animal.
There's a tradition in British intellectual life of mocking any non-political force that gets involved in politics, especially within the sphere of the arts and the theatre.
Successive generations of middle-class parents used to foist their own favourite books on their children. But some time in the late Eighties it began to wane - not because children had lost interest in adorable animals but because most of it was available on useful, pacifying video.
The bones of the story of 'War Horse' is a love story. That's what makes it universal.
No opposing quotes found.