Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
American author and poet
(1850-1919)
"I am the Voice of the Voiceless
Through me the dumb shall speak
Till the world's deaf ear be made to hear
The wrongs of the wordless weak.
Oh shame on the mothers of mortals
Who do not stoop to teach
The sorrow that lies in dear dumb eyes
The sorrow that has no speech.
From street, from cage, from kennel
From stable and from zoo
The wall of my tortured kin proclaims the sin
Of the mighty against the frail.
But I am my brother's keeper
And I shall fight their fight
And speak the word for beast and bird
Till the world shall set things right."
"So many gods, so many creeds, so many pats that wind and wind, while just
the art of being kind, is all the sad world needs."
"Many times I am asked why the suffering of animals should call forth more
sympathy from me than the suffering of human beings; why I work in this
direction of charitable work more than toward any other. My answer is that
because I believe that this work includes all the education and lines of reform
which are needed to make a perfect circle of peace and goodwill about the
earth…."
– The Worlds and I
