Norman Cousins 1915-

"The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it within his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter. Nothing is more powerful than an individual acting out of his conscience, thus helping to bring the collective conscience to life."

Human Options

Leo Tolstoy 1828-1910

"If a mans aspirations towards right living be serious, they will inevitably follow one definite sequence; in this sequence the first virtue a man will strive after will be self-control, self-restraint. And in seeking for self-control a man will inevitably follow one definite sequence, and in this sequence the first thing will be self-control in food fasting. And in fasting, if he be really and seriously seeking to live a good life, the first thing from which he will abstain will always be the use of animal food, because, to say nothing of the excitation of the passions caused by such food, its use is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to moral feeling - killing; and is called forth only by greediness and the desire for tasty food..."

The First Step

Isaac Bashevis Singer 1904-

"As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behaviour toward creatures, all men were Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the principle that might is right."

Enemies, A Love Story

 

Professor J. Howard Moore 1862-1916

"We think of our acts towards non-human peoples, when we think of them at all, entirely from a human point of view. We never take the time to put ourselves in the places of our victims. We never take the trouble to get over into their world and realize what is happening over there as a result of our doings toward them. It is so much more comfortable not to do so - so much more comfortable to be blind and deaf and insane. We go on quieting our consciences, as best we can, by the fact that everybody else nearly, is engaged in the same business as we are, and by the fact that so few ever say anything about the matter - anaesthetized, as it were, by the universality of our iniquities and the infrequency of disquieting reminders."

The Universal Kinship

 
Pythagoras 6th Century B.C.

"As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."

Attributed (Ovid)

Dian Fossey

"When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future."

Last entry into her journal the night she was murdered.

Francis of Assisi 1181-1226

"Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission – to be of service to them whenever they require it. If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."

Quoted in the Life by St. Bonaventura

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882

"You have just dined, and however scupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity."

Fate

Hinduism

Those who have forsaken the killing of all; those who are helpmates to all; those who are a sanctuary to all; those men are in the way of heaven.

Hitopadesa

Not to kill is a supreme duty.

Hitopadesa

What is religion? Compassion for all things which have life. What is happiness? To animals in this world, health. What is kindness? A principle in the good. What is philosophy? An entire seperation from the world.

Hitopadesa

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