" One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them. "
- Martin Luther King Jr.
" Ahimsa means reverence for life, which in turn calls for compassion and service to all living beings. I renounce my animosity and seek forgiveness from all beings. Let all beings forgive me and give up their animosity. I have friendliness towards all and animosity for none. "
- Mahavir
" I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants. "
" I do not regard flesh-food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live. I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world - if we are superior to it. "
" It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures. "
" The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. "
" Ethically they had arrived at the conclusion that man's supremacy over lower animals meant not that the former should prey upon the latter, but that the higher should protect the lower, and that there should be mutual aid between the two as between man and man. They had also brought out the truth that man eats not for enjoyment but to live. "
" To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. "
- Mahatma Gandhi
" Perhaps a man hitched to the cart of a Martian or roasted on the spit by inhabitants of the Milky Way will recall the veal cutlet he used to slice on his dinner plate and apologize (belatedly) to the cow. "
- Milan Kundera
" I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't ...The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further. "
" The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot. "
- Mark Twain
" I think if you want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and eat it raw so that you are not blinded by the hypocrisy of having it processed for you. "
- Margi Clark
" About 2,000 pounds of grains must be supplied to livestock in order to produce enough meat and other livestock products to support a person for a year, whereas 400 pounds of grain eaten directly will support a person for a year. Thus, a given quantity of grain eaten directly will feed 5 times as many people as it will if it is eaten indirectly by humans in the form of livestock products. "
- M. E. Ensminger
" Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test … consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect humankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. "
- Milan Kundera
" This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee, would cause thee pain. "
- Mahabharata
" I haven't bought any leather articles for a very long time. My ideal is to be able to avoid all animal products, in food as well as clothing. "
- Martina Navratilova
" Behind every beautiful fur, there is a story. It is a bloody, barbaric story. "
- Mary Tyler Moore
" Whatever you do unto the least of my brothers, you do it unto me. "
" Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. "
- Matthew
" There are viable (and usually better) alternatives to the use of animals for food, sport, clothing, & experimentation. I beg you to discontinue any actions that might cause or condone animal torture, abuse, or destruction. "
" The environment is worth more than consumer goods and the g.n.p. freedom of speech is absolute and inviolate. guns are too dangerous for private ownership. sustainable & non-polluting energy sources make environmental and economic sense. research performed on animals is, by definition, scientifically unsound. cruelty is unacceptable. what you do with your own body is your choice. one individual violently imposing his or her will on another individual is wrong. you can't expect people to worry about the world when they can't feed themselves or their children. the hazards and risks of nuclear power make it unacceptable as an energy source. the use of animals for food is unhealthy, inefficient, & cruel. people need love & affection. tobacco use has killed & harmed more people than all human wars combined. "
- Moby
" They’ve been trying to test on animals for the past 50 years. Nobody’s come up with a cure,” he says. “If you want to test on somebody, test on me. "
- Montell Williams