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Black Beauty Man and the Natural World Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

There was no gentleness in him as there was in his father; but only hardness, a hard voice, a hard eye, a hard hand, and I felt from the first that what he wanted was to wear all the spirit out of me, and just make me into a quiet, humble, obedient piece of horse-flesh. (7.7)

Over and over, Black Beauty shows us the good and bad of animal treatment—and here's more of the bad. While some men have empathy toward the animals they raise, some don't. Ginger tells the story of her childhood to Beauty, and while Beauty was raised by a kind farmer, Ginger wasn't so lucky. She describes how miserable it was to grow up under the care of men who only cared about her obedience, and not her well-being. Because of this, she doesn't trust men. In her situation, who would?

Quote #5

Patience and gentleness, firmness and petting; one pound of each to be mixed up with half a pint of common-sense, and given to the horse every day. (8.15)

Squire Gordon and his horse-loving staff at Birtwick Park have a recipe for how to care for any horse, and it's this kind treatment that causes Ginger's snappish, distrustful temperament to improve. Here's another example of how people should treat animals—we're sure Beauty hopes you're paying attention.

Quote #6

You never had a good place where they were kind to you, and so you don't know, and I'm sorry for you; but I can tell you good places make good horses. (9.10)

It doesn't get much simpler than this: "Good places make good horses." This isn't rocket science, folks. Treat animals well, and they'll love you forever. Treat them badly, and everyone suffers.