#Vegetarianism Quotes

“I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight.”

“We manage to swallow flesh only because we do not think of the cruel and sinful thing that we do. There are many crimes which are the creation of man himself, the wrongfulness of which is put down to their divergence from habit, custom, or tradition. But cruelty is not of these. It is a fundamental sin, and admits of no argument or nice distinctions. If only we do not allow our heart to grow callous, its protest against cruelty is always clearly heard; and yet we go on perpetrating cruelties easily, merrily, all of us - in fact, anyone who does not join in is dubbed a crank.”

“We manage to swallow flesh, only because we do not think of the cruel and sinful thing we do.”

“If anybody said that I should die if I did not take beef-tea or mutton, even under medical advice, I would prefer death.”

“... man was not born a carnivorous animal, but born to live on the fruits and herbs that the earth grows. I know we must all err. I would give up milk if I could, but I cannot. I have made that experiment times without number. I could not, after a serious illness, regain my strength, unless I went back to milk. That has been the tragedy of my life. But the basis of my vegetarianism is not physical, but moral. If anybody said that I should die if I did not take beef tea or mutton, even on medical advice, I would prefer death. That is the basis of my vegetarianism.”

“I have known many meat eaters to be far more nonviolent than vegetarians.”

“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 is necessary to correct the error that vegetarianism has made us weak in mind, or passive or inert in action. I do not regard flesh-food as necessary at any stage”

“It is very significant that some of the most thoughtful and cultured men are partisans of a pure vegetable diet”

“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.”

“My body is not a tomb for animals.”

“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.”

“Vegetarians are people who cannot hear tomatos screaming.”

“Oh, come! That boot is on the other leg. Why should you call me to account for eating decently? If I battened on the scorched corpses of animals, you might well ask me why I did that”

“I don't like the idea of killing my fellow creatures in order to eat their dead bodies.”

“We are the living graves of murdered beasts.”

“The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.”

“I do not want to make my stomach a graveyard of dead animals.”

“A vegetarian is not a person who lives on vegetables, any more than a Catholic is a person who lives on cats.”

“I am not a complete vegetarian. I eat only animals that have died in their sleep.”

“When a man of normal habits is ill, everyone hastens to assure him that he is going to recover. When a vegetarian is ill (which fortunately very seldom happens), everyone assures him that he is going to die, and that they told him so, and that it serves him right. They implore him to take at least a little gravy, so as to give himself a chance of lasting out the night”

“Is a vegetarian permitted to eat animal crackers?”

“I choose not to make a graveyard of my body for the rotting corpses of dead animals.”

“A dinner! How horrible! I am to be made the pretext for killing all those wretched animals and birds, and fish! Thank you for nothing. Now if it were to be a fast instead of a feast; say a solemn three days' abstention from corpses in my honour, I could at least pretend to believe that it was disinterested. Blood sacrifices are not in my line”

“I was a cannibal for twenty-five years. For the rest I have been a vegetarian.”

“Vegetarians claim to be immune from most diseases but they have been known to die from time to time.”

“A mind of the caliber of mine cannot derive its nutrient from cows.”

“People think of animals as if they were vegetables, and that is not right. We have to change the way people think about animals. I encourage the Tibetan people and all people to move toward a vegetarian diet that doesn’t cause suffering.”

“It is nearly 50 years since I was assured by a conclave of doctors that if I did not eat meat I should die of starvation.”

“Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends.”

“I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism.”

“The average age (longevity) of a meat eater is 63. I am on the verge of 85 and still work as hard as ever. I have lived quite long enough and am trying to die; but I simply cannot do it. A single beef-steak would finish me; but I cannot bring myself to swallow it. I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism.”

“The closer you can live to being a vegetarian the better.”

“In order to satisfy one human stomach, so many lives are taken away. We must promote vegetarianism. It is extremely important.”

“Whenever I visit a market and see the chickens crowded together in tiny cages that give them no room to move around and spread their wings and the fish slowly drowning in the air, my heart goes out to them. People have to learn to think about animals in a different way, as sentient beings who love life and fear death. I urge everyone who can to adopt a compassionate vegetarian diet.”

“I do not see any reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. After all, man can live without meat. It is only some carnivorous animals that have to subsist on flesh. Killing animals for sport, for pleasure, for adventures, and for hides and furs is a phenomenon which is at once disgusting and distressing. There is no justification in indulging in such acts of brutality . . . Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures.”

“I do not see any reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. After all, man can live without meat.”

“My refusing to eat meat occasioned inconveniency, and I have been frequently chided for my singularity. But my light repast allows for greater progress, for greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension.”

“So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It always seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore.”

“When about 16 Years of Age, I happened to meet with a Book written by one Tryon, recommending a Vegetable Diet. I determined to go into it.... My refusing to eat Flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for my singularity.”

“Although I have been prevented by outward circumstances from observing a strictly vegetarian diet, I have long been an adherent to the cause in principle. Besides agreeing with the aims of vegetarianism for aesthetic and moral reasons, it is my view that a vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”

“To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.”

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans ... are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.”

“I admire vegetarians who refuse to eat nothing but vegetables in their homes, but I also admire those who put aside those principles or those preferences when they travel. Just to be a good guest.”

“It is both auspicious and peaceful for people to choose vegetarinism.”