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Sentient Beings Quotes

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Sentient Beings Quotes

“Edgar picks up the mallet. The steer comes up close to him. Edgar looks into the animal's eyes and caresses its forehead. The cow stomps one hoof, wags its tail and snorts. Edgar shushes the animal and its movements slow. There is something about this shushing that makes the cattle drowsy, it establishes a mutual trust. An intimate connection. With his thumb smeared in lime, Edgar Wilson makes the sign of the cross between the ruminant's eyes and takes two steps back. This is his ritual as a stun operator.”

TrustConnectionRitualFalsehoodDominationLureSentient Beings
Book:Of Cattle and Men
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“I have argued that this sort of thinking is problematic in at least two regards: First, the notion that nonhuman animals do not have an interest in continued existence—that they do not have an interest in their lives—involves relying on a speciesist concept of what sort of self-awareness matters morally. I have argued that every sentient being necessarily has an interest in continued existence—every sentient being values her or his life—and that to say that only those animals (human animals) who have a particular sort of self-awareness have an interest in not being treated as commodities begs the fundamental moral question. Even if, as some maintain, nonhuman animals live in an “eternal present”—and I think that is empirically not the case at the very least for most of the nonhumans we routinely exploit who do have memories of the past and a sense of the future—they have, in each moment, an interest in continuing to exist. To say that this does not count morally is simply speciesist. Second, even if animals do not have an interest in continuing to live and only have interests in not suffering, the notion that, as a practical matter, we will ever be able to accord those interests the morally required weight is simply fantasy. The notion that we property owners are ever going to accord any sort of significant weight to the interests of property in not suffering is simply unrealistic. Is it possible in theory? Yes. Is it possible as a matter of practicality in the real world. Absolutely not. Welfarists often talk about treating “farmed animals” in the way that we treat dogs and cats whom we love and regard as members of our family. Does anyone really think that is practically possible? The fact that we would not think of eating our dogs and cats is some indication that it is not.”

HumansInterestLivingSpeciesAnimalsSentient BeingsSpeciesismSentienceNon HumansContinued LifeSpeciesist
Author:GaryLFrancione
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“She knelt on the walkway, and the plants bunched around her, each of them calling out their name: the philodendron was Dendy (he), the ivy was Risa (they), the orchid Amina (she), the calla lily Viria (she), the thistle Tirna (they), the fireweed Nif (he), the wax myrtle Ree (he), the prickly pear Hosha (they), the flytrap Sut (he), the morning glory Zyndia (she), the fern Mirr (they)... She committed as many names as possible to memory.”

PlantsSentient BeingsTheyPronounsHe She
Book:The Enchanted Greenhouse
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“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

WayWisdomNationsPeaceAnimalKindnessGreatnessIntegrityCreaturesCaringTreatedCrueltyVegetarianVeganAnimal RightsJudgedVegetarianismAnimal WelfareAnimal CrueltyLiving CreaturesAnimal LoveDog LoverVegetarian HealthHuman AnimalAnimal WorldSentient BeingsHumans And AnimalsPlants And AnimalsPet AnimalsAnimal LifeFactory FarmingAnimal CompassionDog RescueAnimal EthicsEating AnimalsAnimal AbuseGreat PetVivisectionVegan HealthInspirational DogInspirational AnimalAnimals In NatureKindness To AnimalsVegetarian FoodAnimal RescueNature And AnimalsHumans And DogsLoving DogWildlife AnimalsCompassion Towards AnimalsStray DogsAnimals And SocietyAbused AnimalsSaving AnimalsAnimal ExperimentationHumane WayHuman Beings And AnimalsProtect AnimalsExtinct Animals
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“Our idealists must own that their velleity to abolish all suffering is most fully expressed in the Fifth Wisdom of Lamaism, the doctrine that teaches that "no durable happiness, nor yet security, for any sentient being can exist while others are a prey to suffering." That truth cannot be questioned and you may take it to heart: in practical terms it means we got ourselves born on the wrong planet - in the wrong universe.”

HeartMayMeanSufferingUniverseTermBornTeachSecurityPlanetsPracticalsDoctrineFifthPreyAbolishIdealistSentient Beings
Author:Revilo P. Oliver
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“So long as space remains, So long sentient beings' suffering remain, I will remain, In order to help, in order to serve... I am nothing but a servant to provide to others. So if you provide some happiness, some comfort to others, then your life becomes meaningful. If your life creates problems or suffering to others, then there's no meaning to your existence.”

IfsLongHelpingProblemSufferingOrderSpaceExistenceComfortRemainsMeaningfulServantTortureSentient Beings
Author:Dalai Lama
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“We do not know what awaits each of us after death, but we know that we will die. Clearly, it must be possible to live ethically-with a genuine concern for the happiness of other sentient beings-without presuming to know things about which we are patently ignorant. Consider it: every person you have ever met, every person you will pass in the street today, is going to die. Living long enough, each will suffer the loss of his friends and family. All are going to lose everything they love in this world. Why would one want to be anything but kind to them in the meantime?”

KnowsWorldWantKindPersonsLongEnoughTodayDeathReligionSufferingDiesLosesLossStreetsThis WorldMetsConcernGenuineIgnorantFamily And FriendsAfter DeathSentient BeingsPresumingGenuine ConcernLiving Long
Author:Sam Harris
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“Without reverence we [people] will gradually descend into ecocide. In the degree that the imperatives of the market - the temple of the Mall - govern our lives, we are in escalating danger of destroying the commonwealth of all sentient beings - bugs and bees and buntings - on which we depend for a luxurious life on planet earth.”

PeopleEarthOur LivesDangerPlanetsDependsDegreesTemplesDestroyingReverenceBeesBugsImperativesPlanet EarthMallsCommonwealthSentient BeingsLuxuriousEscalatingBunting
Author:Sam Keen
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“All sentient beings - all holons in fact - contain Buddha-nature - contain depth, consciousness, intrinsic value, Spirit - and thus we are all members of the council of all beings... And the ultimate objective truth is that all beings are perfect manifestations of Spirit or Emptiness”

FactsSpiritValuesPerfectConsciousnessTruth IsMembersUltimateDepthObjectivesManifestationEmptinessCouncilSentient BeingsPerfect ManIntrinsic ValueBuddha NatureObjective Truth
Book:The Essential Ken Wilber
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“Animal experimentation is the blackest of all the black crimes that a man is at present committing... We should be able to refuse to live if the price of living be the torture of sentient beings... I abhor [animal] experimentation with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence... The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

IfsMenWayShouldSoulWholeAbleNationsBlackAnimalMoralProgressBloodCrimeGreatnessDiscoveryConsequenceRefuseTreatedInnocentTortureJudgedExperimentationSentient BeingsScientific DiscoveryAnimal Experimentation
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“If it takes several billion years to develop the building blocks which you need, like RNA and DNA, and then those can build multicellular life and then multicellular life can be honed with natural selection to a point where it becomes sentient like us, then at some point that sentient being can begin to manipulate the matter around it to build better sentient life.”

IfsNeedsYearsMatterNaturalBuildingBillionsBlockDnaSelectionManipulateNatural SelectionSentient BeingsBuilding BlocksRna
Author:Neill Blomkamp
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