“Leaving the complications of the human breakfast-table out of account, in an elemental sense, the egg only exists to produce the chicken. But the chicken does not exist only in order to produce another egg. He may also exist to amuse himself, to praise God, and even to suggest ideas to a French dramatist. Being a conscious life, he is, or may be, valuable in himself.” HumansMayDoeIdeasOrderAnimalProduceCreaturesConsciousAccountsPraiseTablesLeavingValuableEggsChickensBreakfastComplicationElementalsPraise God Book:The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton Source: The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton
“But man is freer than all the animals, on account of his free-will, with which he is endowed above all other animals.” MenAnimalAccountsFree Will Book:Summa Theologica, Volume 2 (Part II, First Section) Source: Summa Theologica, Volume 2 (Part II, First Section)
“It is due to neither impotence nor ignorance on God’s part that evils occur in the world, but it is owing to the order of his wisdom and to the greatness of his goodness, whence come the many and divers grades of goodness in things, many of which would be lacking were he to allow no evil to exist. Thus there would be no good of patience without the evil of persecution, nor the good of the preservation of its life in a lion, without the evil of the destruction of the animals on which it lives.” IfsWorldWould BeOrderEvilAnimalGreatnessIgnoranceGoodnessWeaknessDestructionAccountsDuesGradesLionsDiverseLackingPreservationPersecutionPreservation Of Life Author:Thomas Aquinas
“I think that what one can see from a Darwinian account is how the addition of culture in our species turns us into a very special sort of animal, an animal that can be a moral agent in a way that no other animal can be.” ThinkingWayTurnsCultureAnimalMoralSpecialAccountsSpeciesAgents Author:Daniel Dennett
“A humanist is anyone who rejects the attempt to describe or account for man wholly on the basis of physics, chemistry or animal behaviour.” MenHumanityAnimalAccountsBasesPhysicsRejectsHumanistChemistryBehaviour Author:Joseph Wood Krutch
“Industrial agriculture now accounts for over half of America's water pollution. Two years ago, Pfiesteria outbreaks connected with wastes from industrial chicken factories forced the closure of two major tributaries of the Chesapeake and threatened Maryland's vital shellfish industry. Tyson Foods has polluted half of all streams in northwestern Arkansas with so much fecal bacteria that swimming is prohibited. Drugs and hormones needed to keep confined animals alive and growing are mainly excreted with the wastes and saturate local waterways.” YearsTwoAmericaWaterAnimalHalfAliveGrowingIndustryNeededDrugWasteMajorsYears AgoAccountsEnvironmentalConnectedLocalsStreamsTwo YearsChickensSwimmingFactoriesPollutionAgricultureThreatenedConfinedHormonesClosureTysonBacteriaArkansasTwo Years AgoOutbreaksMarylandShellfishWater PollutionNorthwestern Author:Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“Around the world, we see the results of exploitation which destroys much without taking future generations into account. Protecting the world's forests; stemming desertification and erosion; avoiding the spread of toxic substances harmful to man, animals and plants; protecting the atmosphere; all these can be accomplished only through active and wise cooperation, without borders or political power plays.” MenWorldPlayPoliticalAnimalResultsWiseGenerationsAccountsPlantEnvironmentalSpreadActiveForestsAround The WorldSubstanceAtmosphereBordersAccomplishedCooperationToxicExploitationAvoidingStewardshipFuture GenerationPolitical PowerErosionPower Play Author:Pope John Paul II
“One cannot use with impunity the different categories of beings-animals, plants, the natural elements-simply as one wishes, according to economic needs. One must take into account the nature of each being and its mutual connection in an ordered system, which is the cosmos.” NeedsDifferentUseWishNaturalAnimalEconomicElementsConnectionsAccountsPlantEnvironmentalCosmosMutualCategoriesStewardshipImpunityNatural Elements Author:Pope John Paul II
“A bear and a deer are both wild animals. We allow the deer to roam in our backyard but we do not give the same right to the bear. It is because the bear is dangerous. Neither the bear nor the deer have rights. We humans give them rights. Taking in account our own security, we give to some animals some rights and deny the same to other animals.” GivingHumansAnimalRightsSecurityDangerousBearsAccountsDenyDeerBackyardsWild Animal Author:Ali Sina
“I find it very annoying that so many animal advocates talk about the difficulty of being vegan. Many animal advocates are inclined to make the issue their suffering and not the animals' suffering, and I suppose that accounts for part of the reason that veganism is portrayed as such a "sacrifice." And many animal advocates are not vegans, or are "flexible vegans," which means that they do not observe veganism at all or not consistently, and emphasizing the supposed difficulty of veganism is part of justifying their own behavior.” MeanReasonSufferingAnimalIssuesSacrificeBehaviorAccountsDifficultyVeganAnnoyingConsistentlyFlexibleVeganismAnimal Suffering Author:Gary L. Francione