“Man lives very well upon flesh, you say, but, if…

“Man lives very well upon flesh, you say, but, if he thinks this food to be natural to him, why does he not use it as it is, as furnished to him by Nature? But, in fact, be shrinks in horror from seizing and rending living or even raw flesh with his teeth, and lights a fire to change its natural and proper condition… What is clearer than that man is not furnished for hunting, much less for eating, other animals? In one word, we seem to be admirably admonished by Cicero that man was destined for other things than for seizing and cutting the throats of other animals. If you answer, “that may be said to be an industry ordered by Nature, by which such weapons are invented,” then, behold, it is by the very same artificial instrument that men make weapons for mutual slaughter. Do they this at the instigation of Nature? Can a use so noxious be called natural? Faculty is given by Nature, but it is our own fault that we make a perverse use of it.” – Pierre Gassendi, Letter to Van Helmont

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Other Vegetarianism Quotes

“It may take a while, but there will probably come a time when we look back and say, ‘Good Lord, do you believe that in the 20th century and early part of the 21st, people were still eating animals?’.” – Mary Tyler Moore - View Quote Details on “It may take a while, but there will probably come…
“None, so far as I know, will affirm or at least with any show of reason maintain, that anatomy, so far as that goes, is in favour of flesh eating ” – Dr. William A. Alcott, The Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men and by Experience in All Ages - View Quote Details on “None, so far as I know, will affirm or at…
“I hope that al those who eat animals and yet consider themselves to be living religious lives will read [Diet for Transcendence], and that it will lead them to see that the exploitation of animals is incompatible with any religion which professes compassion.” - Peter Singer - View Quote Details on “I hope that al those who eat animals and yet…
” I have often thought, if it was not for this tyranny which custom usurps over us, that men of any tolerable good-nature could never be reconcil’d to the killing of so many animals for their daily food. - Bernard Mandeville, On The Fable of the Bees - View Quote Details on ” I have often thought, if it was not for…
“The man who shed the blood of an Ox or a Sheep will be habituated more easily than another to witness the effusion of that of his fellow-creatures.” - Sir John Sinclair, Code of Health and Longevity - View Quote Details on “The man who shed the blood of an Ox or…
“My endurance has gone up, and I haven’t gotten tired at all during the whole season. I don’t think you should eat something that had a mother.” - Salim Stoudmire, Animal Times, Spring, 2008, p. 17 - View Quote Details on “My endurance has gone up, and I haven’t gotten tired…
” The same amount of land used to graze and feed cattle could feed ten people, if however we cultivated it with lentils, kidney beans or peas it could feed a hundred people….The Orinoco basin can produce sufficient bananas to feed the whole of mankind comfortably. ” – Alexander von Humbold - View Quote Details on ” The same amount of land used to graze and…
“If you could feel or see the suffering, you wouldn’t think twice. Give back life. Don’t eat meat.” – Kim Basinger - View Quote Details on “If you could feel or see the suffering, you wouldn’t…
“Although most of us conduct our lives as omnivores, in that we eat flesh as well as vegetables and fruits, human beings have characteristics of herbivores, not carnivores. The appendages of carnivores are claws; those of herbivores are hands or hooves. The teeth of carnivores are sharp; those of herbivores are mainly flat (for grinding). The intestinal tract of carnivores is short (3 times body length); that of herbivores, long (12 times body length). Body cooling of carnivores is done by panting; herbivores, by sweating. Carnivores drink fluids by lapping; herbivores, by sipping. Carnivores produce their own vitamin C, whereas herbivores obtain it from their diet. Thus, humans have characteristics of herbivores, not carnivores.” - William C. Roberts, M.D.,, Twenty questions on atherosclerosis - View Quote Details on “Although most of us conduct our lives as omnivores, in…
“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.” - Henry David Thoreau, On Civil Disobedience - View Quote Details on “A man can live and be healthy without killing animals…