Quotes

“As long as there are slaughterhouses there will be battlefields.”
—Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (1828–1910)

“People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991)

“The time will come when men will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.”
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)

“The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute
of man.”
—Charles Darwin, English naturalist (1809–1882)

“If you visit the killing floor of a slaughterhouse, it will brand your soul for life.”
—Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy

“The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of “real food for real people,” you’d better live real close to a real good hospital.
—Neal D. Barnard, MD, President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

“The question is not, ‘Can they reason?’ nor, ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’”
—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)

“Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the death of others. We are burial places.”
—Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519)

“As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.”
—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991)

“As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap the joy of love.”
—Pythagoras
 

“While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth? Animals are my friends...and I don't eat my friends.”
—George Bernard Shaw, writer and Nobel laureate (1856–1950)

“It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

“When a human being kills an animal for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice. Man prays for mercy, but is unwilling to extend it to others. Why then should man expect mercy from God? It is unfair to expect something that you are not willing to give.”
—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991)

“Auschwitz begins wherever someone
looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks:
they’re only animals.”
—Theodor W. Adorno, German philosopher, sociologist, and composer (1903-1969)

“Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.”
—Milan Kundera, Czech-born French writer (1929-)

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
—Elie Wiesel, writer and Nobel laureate (1928–2016)

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist (1901–1978)

“Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well with others.”
—César Chávez, American labor leader and civil rights activist (1927-1993)

“To forgive and accept injustice is cowardice.”
—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948)

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer (1749–1832)

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
—Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788–1860)

“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.”
—Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher, physician, and musician (1875-1965)