“If a thing is right it can be done, and if it is wrong it can be done without and a good man will find a way.” “There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham.” When it was hot we used to stand by the pond in the shade of the trees, and when it was cold we had a nice warm shed near the grove.” In the daytime I ran by her side, and at night I lay down close by her. “While I was young I lived upon my mother’s milk, as I could not eat grass. “Do you know why this world is as bad as it is?… It is because people think only about their own business, and won’t trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed, nor bring the wrong-doers to light … My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.” “We have no right to distress any of God’s creatures without a very good reason we call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.” Here are quotes from Black Beauty, one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, reflecting the author’s belief in the inherent rights and dignity of all animals. Black Beauty was not only a plea for more humane treatment of horses, but a great story. Having to get around with horse-drawn carriages gave her a great empathy for the beautiful animals.Īnna grew to love horses, and was distressed by the abuse and neglect with which they were treated. Never having fully recovered, Anna was unable to stand or walk for very long for the rest of her life. She fell while walking home from school and broke both of her ankles at the age of fourteen.

Anna’s inspiration for her only novel, Black Beauty(1877) came from personal experience. Anna Sewell (1820 – 1878) inherited her talent from her mother, Mary Wright Sewell, who was a writer of poetry and novels.

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