about vegetarianism
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about vegetarianism | what people say about vegetarianism | famous vegetarians
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I stopped eating meat during my first year of college when research into ethics, animal rights and medical testing opened my eyes to something I’d never given a thought to.
Many people, including myself at one point, simply eat meat because that’s what we learned, because we like the taste, because we’re too lazy to change or even consider something else, or because we think one person can’t make a difference. I encourage you, for your sake, the animals’ sake, for all our sakes, to ask yourself ‘is eating this being creating the world more the way I want it? More loving, peaceful, fun, united?’
Everything we do has an effect. Every thought, every action makes a difference. Our choices make our world, starting with our self, who we are and what we feel.
I believe that any open-minded person, any sensitive person, who sincerely learns what’s involved with meat eating – from factory farming, abuse, slaughter, hormones, antibiotics, greed, eco-destruction – will naturally move away from contributing to this injustice and towards a conscious and yogic way of nourishment.
Incredible resources are available for education and guidance. The rewards are many. Perhaps the most is supporting life, harmony and love. Side benefits are helping the ecology of the planet and our own health, longevity and youthfulness.
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what people say about vegetarianism
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about vegetarianism | what people say about vegetarianism | famous vegetarians
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
( Mahatma Gandhi )
"I have no doubt that it is part of the destiny of the human race in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came into contact with the more civilized."
( Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 (essayist, naturalist, poet) )
Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.
( Thomas Edison (1847-1931) )
If people knew how badly animals were treated in today’s factory farms, if people knew how completely confined and immobilized these creatures are for their entire lives, if people knew how severe and unrelenting is the cruelty these animals are forced to endure, there would be change. If people knew. But too many of us choose to look the other way, to keep the veil in place, to remain unconscious and caught in the cultural trance. That way we are more comfortable. That way is convenient. That way we don’ t have to risk too much. This is how we keep ourselves asleep.
( John Robbins (author, former heir to the Baskins-Robbins fortune) )
My refusing to eat flesh occasioned inconveniency, and I was frequently chided for my singularity, but, with this lighter repast, I made the greater progress, from greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension.
( Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790 (statesman, author, inventor) )
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.
( Pythagoras (mathematician) )
To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.
( Mahatma Gandhi (statesman and philosopher) )
The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.
( Leonardo Da Vinci (artist and scientist) )
I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.
( Abraham Lincoln (16th U.S. President) )
It is man's sympathy with all creatures that first makes him truly a man.
( Albert Schweitzer (statesman, Nobel 1952) )
A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.
( Leo Tolstoy (author, 1828-1910) )
In all the round world of Utopia there is no meat. There used to be, but now we cannot stand the thought of slaughterhouses. And it is impossible to find anyone who will hew a dead ox or pig. I can still remember as a boy the rejoicings over the closing of the last slaughterhouse.
( H G Wells - A Modern Utopia )
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, M.D )
To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the sufferings of man. For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime.
( Romain Rolland )
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 ...its use is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to the moral feeling -- killing.
( Leo Tolstoy )
No humane being, past the thoughtless age of boyhood, will wantonly murder any creature which holds its life by the same tenure that he does.
( Henry David Thoreau )
The Utopians feel that slaughtering our fellow creatures gradually destroys the sense of compassion, which is the finest sentiment of which our human nature is capable.
( Thomas More )
Gambling, eating meat, wine bibbing, adultery, hunting, thieving, debauchery - these seven things in this world lead to the hells.
( Sanskrit Shloka )
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
( Ecclesiastes )
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.
( Mahatma Gandhi )
It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation, that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion; and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathing and disgust.
( Percy Bysshe Shelley )
I tremble for my species when I reflect that God is just.
( Thomas Jefferson )
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
( Matthew 5:7 )
Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.
( Froude )
You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.
( Ralph Waldo Emerson )
We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions and organs with our own, and fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain and fear.
( Robert Louis Stevenson )
When I was 12, I went hunting with my father and we shot a bird. He was laying there and something struck me. Why do we call this fun to kill this creature who was as happy as I was when I woke up this morning.
( Marv Levy )
The person who kills for fun is announcing that, could he get away with it, he'd kill you for fun. Your...life may be of no consequence to anyone else but is invaluable to you because it's the only one you've got. Exactly the same is true of each individual deer, hare, rabbit, fox, fish, pheasant and butterfly. Humans should enjoy their own lives, not taking others'. "
( Brigid Brophy )
There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is.
( Isaac Bashevis Singer )
This is the sum of duty: do naught to others, which if done to thee, would cause thee pain.
( Mahabharata )
He who harms animals has not understood or renounced deeds of sin ... Those whose minds are at peace and who are free from passions do not desire to live at the expense of others.
( Acharanga Sutra (Jainism) )
When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble. ?
( Buddha (563? - 483? B.C.) )
All beings seek for happiness; so let your compassion extend itself to all.
( Mahavamsa (Buddhist) )
Have a compassionate heart towards all creatures.
( Attr. Ko Hung (284-363 AD) (Confucian-Taoist) )
If [man] is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
( Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) )
What is it that should trace the insuperable line? ...The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
( Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) )
The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.
( Charles Darwin (1809-1882) )
Our task must be to free ourselves...by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
( Albert Einstein (1879-1955) )
Animals are my friends...and I don't eat my friends.
( George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) )
Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
( Albert Einstein (1879-1955) )
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) )
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 (1904-1991) )
The indifference of children towards meat is one proof that the taste for meat is unnatural; their preference is for vegetable foods...Beware of changing this natural taste and making children flesh-eaters, if not for their health's sake, for the sake of their character; for how can one explain away the fact that great meat-eaters are usually fiercer and more cruel than other men; this has been recognized at all times and in all places.
( Jean Jacques Rousseau 1712-1788 (philosopher) )
Vegetarianism serves as the criterion by which we know that the pursuit of moral perfection on the part of humanity is genuine and sincere.
( Leo Tolstoy 1828-1910 (Novelist, moral philosopher, playwright and essayist) )
The human commitment to harmony, justice, peace and love is ironic as long as we continue to support the suffering and shame of the slaughterhouse and its satellite operations.
( Karen Davis, Poisoned chickens, Poisoned Eggs )
Some people misinterpret empathy for animals as weakness. Standing up against cruelty is actually an act of strength – especially when most people merely follow the crowd. We are the lucky ones – we are not standing day after day in a tiny space breathing the stench of our own waste, waiting only to be slaughtered. Our actions can make a powerful public statement against the current treatment of animals.
( Why Vegan? )
I do not believe any sensitive human being could see what is actually being done to cows, chickens, pigs and turkeys in today’s factory farms and slaughterhouses, and remain unmoved. We treat these animals, each one of them a sentient being, as if they were so much garbage. We subject them to conditions that frustrate every one of their natural instincts and urges, and that are a violation o the human-animal bond. In the name of cheap meat, poultry and dairy products, we are committing a crime against nature, against these animals, and against our own humanity. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that we are able to make food choices that do not collude and participate in this nightmare and that, at the same time, help improve our own health.
( John Robbins )
As long as we are the living graves of murdered animals, slaughtered to satisfy our appetites, how can we hope in this world to attain the peace we say we are so anxious for?
( George Bernard Shaw, Living Graves )
In order to be kind, one must do. There is no point in thinking good thoughts and not acting on them. There is no currency in wishing things were better but not rolling up one’s sleeves and helping to change them.
( Ingrid Newkirk, You Can Save the Animals. )
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famous vegetarians |
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| about vegetarianism | what people say about vegetarianism | famous vegetarians |
AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Abdul Kalam Dr.
Adam Ant
Alanis Morissette
Albert Einstein
Alice Walker
Alicia Silverstone
Allen Ginsberg
Ally Sheedy
Amber Benson
Amy Ray
Andre 3000
Angela Bassett
Angie Everhart
Annie Lennox
Anthony Grayling
Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Robbins
Ariana Huffington
Ashley Judd
Axella Johannesson
Barbara Bouchet
Beatrice Wood
Belinda Carlisle
Benjamin Franklin
Bernadette Peters
Bill Maher
Bob Dylan
Bobcat Goldthwait
Bob Marley
Bonnie Raitt
Boy George
Brad Pitt
Brigitte Bardot
Brooke Shields
Bruce Springsteen
Candice Bergen
Carl Lewis
Carlos Santana
Carmen Miranda
Carole Bouquet
Carrie Anne Moss
Casey Kassem
Cesar Chavez
Charles Darwin
Christena Appelgate
Christie Brinkley
Christopher Amott
Christy Turlington
Cindy Lauper
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Schiffer
Corey Feldman
Danny Garcia
Darryl Hannah
Dave Scott
Davy Jones
Dean Ornish, M.D.
Demi Moore
Dennis Kucinich
Deepak Chopra
Dizzie Gillespie
Doctah B Sirius
Doris Day
Dustin Hoffman
Dwight Yoakam
Ed Asner
Ed Templeton
Eddie Jackson
Eddie Vedder
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Nastassja Kinski
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Portman
Nelly
Elizabeth Berkley
Elvira
Elvis Costello
Emmylou Harris
Eric Johnson
Eric Roberts
Eric Stoltz
Erkyah Badu
Fiona Apple
Gandhi
George Bernard Shaw
George Harrison
Gloria Swanson
Grace Slick
Gwyneth Paltrow
H. G. Wells
Hank Aaron
Henry David Thoreau
Ian McKellan
Immanuel Kant
India Arie
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Jackie Chan
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jane Goodall
Jay Kordich, aka the "Juiceman"
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Joan Baez
Joaquin Phoenix
John Lennon
John Tesh
Johnny Cash
Franz Kafka
K D Lang
Keenan Ivory Wayans
Kelly Osbourne
Kevin Nealon
Kim Basinger
Larry Mullen Jr.
LaToya Jackson
Laura Nashman
Leo Tolstoy
Leonard Cohen
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo di Caprio
Linda Blair
Linda Carter
Linda McCartney
Lisa Bonet
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Simpson
Louisa May Alcott
Mark Twain
Martha Plimpton
Martina Navratilova
Martin Shaw
Mary Tyler Moore
Matthew Scully
Meatloaf
Melissa Etheridge
Michael Bolton
Michael Jackson
Michael Stipe
Mike Gordon
Moby
Morrissey
Mr. (Fred) Rogers
Noah Wiley |
Naomi Watts
Norman Walker
Oliver Stone
Olivia Newton John
Pamela Anderson
Paramahansa Yogananda
Pauly Shore
Paul McCartney
Percy Shelley
Peter Gabriel
Peter Tork
Phil Lesh
Phil Ramone
Phylicia Rashad
Pink
Plato
Prince
Propagandhi
Pythagoras
Queen Sofia
Rabindranath Tagore
Raffi
Rainer Maria Rilke
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ramana Maharshi
Reese Witherspoon
Richard Gere
Ricki Lake
Ringo Starr
Rita Moreno
River Phoenix
Rosa Parks
Russell Crowe
Russel Simmons
RZA
Sade
Samantha Eggar
Sandra BernHart
Seal
Serinity
Shane MacGowan
Shania Twain
Shannon Elizabeth
Sinead O'Connor
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Stafford Cripps
Socrates
Sonya Fitzpatrick
Stella McCartney
Steve Bellamy
Steven Jobs
Steve Perry
Steve Vai
Suzanne Vega
Tea Leoni
Thomas Alva Edison
Thom Yorke
Tobey Maguire
Todd Oldham
Tracy Chapman
Tyrone Willingham
Uri Geller
Vanessa Williams
Vanna White
Voltaire
"Weird" Al Yankovic
William Blake
Willem Dafoe
William Shatner
Wolfgang Peterson
Woody Harrelson
Yoko Ono |
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