“If I were alone in a desert
and feeling afraid,
I would want a child to be with me.
For then my fear would disappear
and I would be made strong.
This is what life in itself can do
because it is so noble, so full of pleasure
and so powerful.
But if I could not have a child with me
I would like at least to have a living animal
at my side to comfort me.
Therefore,
let those who bring about wonderful things
in their big, dark books
take an animal to help them.
The life within the animal
will give them strength in turn.
For equality
gives strength, in all things,
and at all times.”

Meister Eckhart,  late medieval German theologian and mystic