The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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Family Ties

773. Why is it that, in the case of animals, parents and children forget each other when the latter no longer need to be cared for?
“Animals live a physical life and not a moral life. The tenderness of the mother for her young is prompted by the instinct of self-preservation for her offspring. When these beings are able to take care of themselves, her job is done. Nature asks no more of her, and she abandons them to busy herself with the next newborns.”


774. Some individuals have inferred, based on the abandonment of young animals by their parents, that human family ties are merely a result of social customs, and not a law of nature. What should we think of this?
“Human beings have a different destiny than animals, why do you always want to make them equals? For humans, there is something beyond physical needs; they feel an instinctual need to progress. Social ties are necessary for progress and family ties strengthen social bonds. This is why family ties are a law of nature. God wants men and women to learn to love one another as brothers and sisters.” (See no. 205)


775. What would be the effect on society if family ties were relaxed?
“It would lapse into selfishness.”

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