vegetarianism-activists

"If I have any Virtues in me, or if there be such a distinguishing Characteristick in Man, they are chiefly a universal Love of my Fellow-creatures, placed here in concert with me to compleat the Harmony of the Universe."

"We have no Right of Property from Nature. When Men were first made, no Boundaries were set to his Possession; Right and Wrong were not known; no Man assumed a Right by Nature, and what was effected was by Power. If we could claim no Right to the Bodies of Animals, we had no Power to destroy. The Sparrow and the Fish of the Sea are in common to all, no Man claims a particular Right to them, therefore has no Power by Nature over them to kill."

"[E]very thing which partakes of Sense, has also Reason; 'tis the Mind alone that sees, hears, &c. the Body of itself being blind, deaf, and void of all Sense. Therefore since Beasts see and hear, and perform all other Actions of Sense as we do; I hope it will not be unreasonable to assert they have a Seat of Reason."

"Before we enter immediately upon the intended Controversy about the Right of eating Animals; I would beg Leave first to endeavour to unprejudice your Mind, by shewing the Primitive and Religious Notions of eating Flesh: They established their Reasons upon a fundamental Law in Nature, the original Justice of the World, which teaches us not to do that to another which we would not have another do to us. Now since 'tis evident that no Man would willingly become the Food of Beasts; therefore by the same Rule, he ought not to prey on them."

"Man is but one Link in the great Concatenation of Beings, and to ufurp an Authority over any other part of the Chain is indeed Pride, rank Pride, and Haughtiness of Soul."

"…I believe it inconsistent with Humanity to eat Flesh, inconsistent with our Nature, or the Intentions of God in our first Formation, to imbrue our Teeth in the Blood of the Animals. They have the same Sense of Pleasure and Pain as we have, and we put them to an equal Torture with us by a Wound given to them; if so, it is at best a Cruelty to destroy them. I would fain know of you, that if I believe it criminal to eat Flesh, and continue so to do, whether I do not live in a Sin against Conscience, against Nature, which is the greatest of Sins; if by her I am convicted, if that faithful Monitor sets it before me as criminal to feed on the animal Creation, I seem to need no other Remonstrance."

"...Blood and Flesh with a voracious Appetite we devour, and glut ourselves with slaughter'd Animals, perhaps endued with Reason equal to ourselves; it may be we cannot affirm, that they possess one so perfect as ours, but that Perfection is acquir'd by Discipline, which the Generality of Brutes want. They have not Seminaries of Literature, nor Cambridge, Oxford, nor Eaton or Westminster, where Arts and Sciences are taught by Rules. — No, Nature is their only School-Mistress, and they learn her Instructions with wonderful Promptness and Sagacity. The Elements founded by the infinite Creator serve them as a Book, to teach them all the Knowledge which is necessary for their Well-being here."

"A Flie, a Mite, or other Insect, are in the same great Chain of Beings; and I but help to fill up the Rank of the Divin Works, I am no more than they. Look upon the Mechanism of a Spider with a Microscopic Eye, upon the Architecture of the Bee, &c. let Man consider the Fineness of their Texture and Composure, and with what Exactness they are form'd, and he will find in himself nothing to be vain of. If I boast of any thing, it is only of being join'd with you in this great Concatenation of Things, and moving with you in one of its Revolutions—My Friend, when we are worn out, and drop insensibly into the Grave, we only leave the Space to be filled up in the next successive Moment, perhaps by some other Race of Creatures, who compleat the Harmony of Wonders in this Structure of the Universe."

"Vegetarianism is a most simple thing, and I suppose it is because of its great simplicity that there exist so many misunderstandings about it. It is not an ideal in food and drink; it is an actuality which has proved widely beneficial; it is a reality, something which can be practiced—not something which can only be looked at with desire from a distance; but vegetarianism is a system or diet which leaves its adherents absolutely free, with one exception, to choose from all the entire range of food products which the world offers. The exception is that section of foods which are obtainable only by loss of life."

"There is no question that vivisection is, in many cases, inseparable from suffering and that suffering is inevitable to the pursuit of the practice; further, that the suffering which is caused is altogether a minor matter to some of the men who cause it. This the public has yet to realize. It has to understand that in assenting to and encouraging experiments on living animals it is giving its consent to possibilities of illimitable suffering."

"The whole field of experiments is not only saturated with suffering, but it is dogged with failure of results and vain and ceaseless repetition of experiments over and over again."

"The Golden Rule must be applied in our relations with the animal world, just as it must be applied in our relations with our fellow men, and no one can be a Christian man or woman until this finds embodiment in his or her life."

"Going vegetarian is not only a great way to trim your waist, but you'll be shrinking your carbon footprint too. I love that my diet is as kind to the planet as it is to animals and my health!"

"Even seemingly small choices can have a big impact on our health, our community and the world around us. Going vegetarian is one of the easiest ways to improve our health, help countless animals and protect the Earth."

"As a promoter of vegetarianism, I think it’s important to realise that we don’t own this planet, we’re co-existing with animals and so we need to have compassion for every co-member of the planet. We should be kind to plants as well."

"Being a doctor, as well as a model, I know that eating veg is the first and most important ingredient in keeping fit. If you eat chicken or other meat, you’re consuming toxins, fat, and cholesterol. Veg food is powered with all the vitamins and protein you need to be at your best."

"We’ll let the peasants fight for last place."

"Now, I’m telling you. Mark my fucking words. This, it’ s going to be a clear and decisive win. I don’t know how it’s going to happen. I just want to let my body freely move with headbutts and elbows, I don’t care. I just want to finish the guy."

"I love Dave Leduc. The guy is a monster! I would love to have him in One Championship."

"My wife and I became fully vegan solely for health reasons [...] shortly after watching the movie The Game Changers, as I saw that it was possible to thrive as an elite athlete on a plant-based diet. [https://www.instagram.com/p/CKxaA8ypcwZ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= (2nd February, 2021)"

"I will never eat animals or dairy for the rest of my life. (2nd February, 2021)"

"Once you reunite with your compassion and choose the vegan way of life, it’s almost impossible to go back. (2nd February, 2021)"

"Veganism. It’s not a diet, it’s a philosophy, which aims to cause as less cruelty around you as practically possible."

"He got two years to hate me and meditate in front of my photo."

"Tun Tun Min actually disrespected me when he said that the Myanmar Lethwei Champion should not be a non-Burmese according to him. I replied saying that it doesn't matter where the champion is born, it's what's in his heart that matters, and I am Myanmar in my heart."

"I take great pride in going in the ring and choosing my shots to dismantle my opponent and avoiding shots, avoiding attacks. I think that’s the ultimate bad a**. You fight bare knuckle, and you leave unscathed."

"Maybe I was born in Myanmar in another life"

"“I’m not deep into Lethwei, I am Lethwei.”"

"Lethwei is more popular than ever, and I am proud to be behind this. I'm bringing Lethwei to the world, and bringing fame to Myanmar which will bring more tourism and more money to the people."

"I like extreme. I never like to be normal. F*** normal. I’m the black sheep in life. I’m the weird one and I like that."

"In life you don’t ‘half-ass’ things. So I thought; I want to fight, why not do the most brutal sport in the world?"

"I would prefer fighting foreign fighters to show the true power of Lethwei against other martial arts."

"When it came to fighting convicts, Leduc said: "I wouldn't feel bad if I win and my rival's sentence isn't reduced. They do not fight for money, they fight for their freedom. I only fight for honor and glory. [...] They deserve to get my 100%, if he wins, then he earns it.""

"Unless we can trace our lineage to the original humans and find that we live where they lived, we are all international migrants. Furthermore, we are all wanderers. We symbolically carry our homes on our backs, like turtles, snails, and crustaceans—for the meanings and associations of home are always with us and affect our orientation in space and time, and how we negotiate our way through the world."

"It is easy to feel that one's personal efforts are insignificant—a mere drop in the bucket—in the face of large-scale injustices or social ills that cry out for a remedy. But to begin, if any practice—such as meat-eating—is wrong, then it is right for each of us not to engage in it, even if this does not by itself change the world. We are better in ourselves for making this decision. We must also remember that every revolutionary social movement begins with a dedicated few who push it forward and act as the surrogate conscience of others, helping them gain a greater awareness and acquire the courage of new convictions."

"Vegetarianism, rather than being confining, is liberating as it frees us from the exploitation of animals, the domination of nature, and the oppression of one another, and frees us to discover ourselves in more positive, life-affirming ways."

"For those who take the vegetarian option seriously and adopt it as their own, it may well connect with their spiritual or religious orientation, even their sense of meaning and purpose in life. Some might see these as grandiose claims, but the point is that vegetarianism sheds light upon, and is in turn reflected by, our philosophical outlook on ourselves, our world, and our place in it."

"Humans are currently the dominant species on earth and exercise a great deal of power and control over nature. But very few believe might makes right, so the fact that we have greater power cannot enter into a justification of our use and treatment of animals. Rather, where other beings are under our power, we should feel obligated to show self-restraint and to act out of mercy and compassion. We cannot avoid causing harm to other beings in the process of living our own lives. Nor does morality consist in trying to be perfect and pure. But we can adopt an orientation toward minimizing the amount of harm we cause and taking full responsibility for it, seeing it for what it is. To justify animal experimentation is to start at one end of a continuum. Much of what we do will be morally acceptable (in our eyes), and we will chip away at the extremity where what we do shades into cruelty. I no longer believe that a general moral justification of animal experimentation can be given."

"If we harden our hearts to the suffering of the creatures, we must by an immutable law harden our hearts to our brother and sister, and this can never lead to ideal conditions. The adoption of this vegetarian way of life, if the food is balanced, will lead to a new, better, higher, and more noble rhythm of living."

"So I read about various aspects of vegetarianism—the scientific aspect, the humane aspect, the ethical aspect, and the economic aspect. The more I studied, the more convinced I became that it was a logical procedure, that it would help humanity, that it would lessen the suffering of the animals, and that it would help this country."

"A vegetarian diet, Latto believes, promotes endurance. … Despite the number of patients he must treat, Dr. Latto still finds time to serve as president of the two vegetarian societies … and to lecture on the salutary benefits of a vegetarian diet all over England and Europe—testimony in itself to the stamina that such a diet provides."

"I met Dr. Gordon Latto, who had become so impressed by the efficacy of nature cure methods that he had switched over almost completely from his orthodox practice to natural healing. He said that he could stop the gallstone from forming, but that I must go on a strict vegetarian diet for a year, besides knocking off drink and tobacco (which he said was worse than drink). This was a tough regime; the gallstones could not survive it. I did, however, and at the end of the period I found that I was also cured of smoking, and that the vegetarian diet suited me so well that I have preferred it ever since."

"Celebrating our culture is very important to me. But one thing I cannot support is the senseless killing of animals in bullfights. From the moment the bull enters the ring, he’s destined to die. Outnumbered, frightened, even drugged or injured, his death will be slow and painful. … Tradition is no excuse for cruelty."

"Growing up, I was always in and out of the hospital with stomach problems, and no one could figure out what was wrong. I decided to give up meat and become a vegetarian, and I haven’t had stomach problems since! I love eating healthy, delicious vegetarian meals and the options are endless. No matter where I go, I can find vegetarian dishes that satisfy my hunger and my taste for great food."

"My perspective of veganism was most affected by learning that the veal calf is a by-product of dairying, and that in essence there is a slice of veal in every glass of what l had thought was an innocuous white liquid—milk."

"I think it is important that people be made aware that the vegetarian movement has a venerable history behind it. It didn't spring full-blown from the head of a flower child in the 1960's. It really begins with Pythagoras in the West in the 6th century BC and has reasserted itself periodically ever since."

"30 years ago, about 2% of the population was either vegetarian or vegan. Twenty years ago, about 2% of the population was vegetarian or vegan. Ten years ago, about 2% of the population was vegetarian or vegan. Are you catching a theme? It hasn’t changed in 30 years. So a lot more people claim to be vegetarian or vegan now than claimed to be vegetarian or vegan 20 and 30 years ago. But if you look at the actual numbers, if you look at when you do the polling in the most accurate way and you say, “In the last month, which of these products have you not consumed,” it turns out that about 2% of the population is vegetarian or vegan."

"It is a crime against humanity, while people are starving, to funnel massive amounts of crops through animals so we can eat animals when those crops should be feeding human beings."

"What is happening to [animals] on modern farms and in modern slaughterhouses is beyond most of the worst moments of our lives...that's their entire existence."

"What we need to do is...to produce the meat that people love, but we need to produce it in a whole new way. I've got a couple of ideas. Idea number one: let's grow meat from plants. Instead of growing plants, feeding them to animals, and all of that inefficiency, let's grow those plants, let's biomimic meat with them, let's make plant-based meat. Idea number two: for actual animal meat, let's grow it directly from cells. Instead of growing live animals, let's grow the cells directly. It takes six weeks to grow a chicken to slaughter weight. Grow the cells directly, you can get that same growth in six days."