# Quote — H.G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau

> "But," said I, "these things—these animals talk!"He said that was so, and proceeded to point out that the possibility of vivisection does not stop at a mere physical metamorphosis. A pig may be educated. The mental structure is even less determinate than the bodily. In our growing science of hypnotism we find the promise of a possibility of superseding old inherent instincts by new suggestions, grafting upon or replacing the inherited fixed ideas. Very much indeed of what we call moral education, he said, is such an artificial modification and perversion of instinct; pugnacity is trained into courageous self-sacrifice, and suppressed sexuality into religious emotion.

- Author: [H.G. Wells](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells.md)
- Book: [The Island of Doctor Moreau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/the-island-of-doctor-moreau.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._G._Wells#The_Island_of_Doctor_Moreau_(1896)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/the-island-of-doctor-moreau/but-said-i-these

## More from this book

> "This silly ass of a world," he said; "what a muddle it all is! I haven't had any life. I wonder when it's going to begin. Sixteen years being bullied by nurses and schoolmasters at their own sweet will; five in London grinding hard at medicine, bad food, shabby lodgings, shabby clothes, shabby vice, a blunder — I didn't know any better — and hustled off to this beastly island. Ten years here! What's it all for, Prendick? Are we bubbles blown by a baby?"

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/the-island-of-doctor-moreau/this-silly-ass.md)

> I fell indeed into a morbid state, deep and enduring, and alien to fear, which has left permanent scars upon my mind. I must confess that I lost faith in the sanity of the world when I saw it suffering the painful disorder of this island. A blind Fate, a vast pitiless Mechanism, seemed to cut and shape the fabric of existence; and I, Moreau (by his passion for research), Montgomery (by his passion for drink), the Beast People with their instincts and mental restrictions, were torn and crushed, ruthlessly, inevitably, amid the infinite complexity of its incessant wheels.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/the-island-of-doctor-moreau/i-fell-indeed.md)

> An animal may be ferocious and cunning enough, but it takes a real man to tell a lie.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/the-island-of-doctor-moreau/an-animal-may.md)