Cruelty to animals is an enormous injustice; so is expecting those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder to do the dangerous, soul-numbing work of slaughtering sentient beings on our behalf. — Victoria Moran
The awful wrongs and sufferings forced upon the innocent, helpless, faithful animal race form the blackest chapter in the whole world's history. — R. Edward Freeman
You know, we all oppose animal cruelty. But sometimes we forget that animals on farms suffer and feel pain like all other animals. They, too, deserve to be protected from harm and cruelty. — Charlotte Ross
We don't let animals suffer, so why humans? — Stephen Hawking
To inflict cruelties on defenceless creatures, or condone such acts, is to abuse one of the cardinal tenets of a civilized society - reverence for life. — Jon Evans
I don't care whether animals are capable of thinking; all I care about is that they are capable of suffering! — Jeremy Bentham
Man's inhumanity to man is only surpassed by his cruelty to animals — George Bernard Shaw
Never believe that animals suffer less than humans. Pain is the same for them that it is for us. Even worse, because they cannot help themselves. — Louis J. Camuti
Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. — Milan Kundera
Thousands of animals (now billions) are butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. It cries vengeance upon all the human race. — Romain Rolland
It is more important to prevent animal suffering, rather than sit to contemplate the evils of the universe praying in the company of priests. — Buddha
Could you look an animal in the eyes and say to it, 'My appetite is more important than your suffering'? — Moby
I don't like to see animals in pain. That was very uncomfortable to me. I don't like factory farming. I'm not an advocate for the meat industry. — Anthony Bourdain
The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous; it is indissolubly connected with the fate of men. — Emile Zola
Our treatment of animals, in every department, is deeply and systematically immoral. Becoming a vegetarian is only the most minimal ethical response to the magnitude of the evil. — Colin McGinn
Short Animal Suffering Quotes
Man's highest duty is to protect animals from cruelty. — Emile Zola
Violence in any form is evil and to kill innocent animals in tantamount to blatant savagery. — Sathya Sai Baba
If you could see or feel the suffering you wouldn't think twice. Give back life. Don't eat meat. — Kim Basinger
Cruelty to animals is one of the most significant vices of a low and ignoble people. — Alexander von Humboldt
You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing everything with logic. If words control your that means everyone can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.
Animation Quotes
We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. — Immanuel Kant
Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way. — Martin Luther King
Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal, and awakens in man. — Ibn Arabi
All things of creation are children of the Father and thus brothers of man. ... God wants us to help animals, if they need help. Every creature in distress has the same right to be protected. — Francis of Assisi
People who have no hold over their process of thinking are likely to be ruined by liberty of thought. If thought is immature, liberty of thought becomes a method of converting men into animals. — Muhammad Iqbal
The root of suffering is attachment.
Horses are very keen on body language, and what I refer to as “presence”, and expression. They know quite a bit about you before you ever get to ‘em. They can read things about you clear across an arena. — Buck Brannaman
The fidelity of a dog is a precious gift demanding no less binding moral responsibilities than the friendship of a human being. — Konrad Lorenz
If exposure of body is modernism, then animals are more modern than humans. — Zakir Naik
As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. — Pythagoras
Animate Quotes
I prefer the company of animals more than the company of humans. Certainly, a wild animal is cruel. But to be merciless is the privilege of civilized humans. — Sigmund Freud
Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them whenever they require it. — Francis of Assisi
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.
We are all like fireworks. We climb, shine and always go our separate ways and become further apart. But even if that time comes, let's not disappear like a firework, and continue to shine... forever. — Tite Kubo
God requires that we assist the animals, when they need our help. Each being (human or creature) has the same right of protection. — Francis of Assisi
If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys. — Chief Dan George
It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.
The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others. — Saint John Chrysostom
People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel. — Fyodor Dostoevsky
We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things. — Charlotte Mason
The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man. — Charles Darwin
Animal Quotes
Most people have forgotten how to live with living creatures, with living systems and that, in turn, is the reason why man, whenever he comes into contact with nature, threatens to kill the natural system in which and from which he live. — Konrad Lorenz
Who does not love his own tongue is far worse than a brute or stinking fish. — Jose Rizal
Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure. — Oliver Sacks
If a man has to make a woman the center of his love, why should he integrate animality into this sacred human emotion?...Is love incompelete without it?...Is love the name of physical excersize ? — Saadat Hasan Manto
Dogs are animals that poop in public and you're supposed to pick it up. After a week of doing this, you've got to ask yourself, "Who's the real master in this relationship?" — Anthony Griffin
Without enough wilderness America will change. Democracy, with its myriad personalities and increasing sophistication, must be fibred and vitalized by regular contact with outdoor growths - animals, trees, sun warmth and free skies - or it will dwindle and pale. — Walt Whitman
If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. — Chief Seattle
Women should be treated as human beings, not as domestic animals. — Averroes
Through my LSD experience and my new picture of reality, I became aware of the wonder of creation, the magnificence of nature and of the animal and plant kingdom. I became very sensitive to what will happen to all this and all of us. — Albert Hofmann
Suffering Quotes
I suffer from depression. Severe cases of it. Not one case of depression, not a severe case, but severe cases of depression. Music is my only outlet, it's therapeutic to me. It's a release. It's how I vent emotionally. — Kevin Gates
God lives, feels and suffers in every one of us, and in course of time, His attributes, knowledge, beauty and love will be revealed in each of us. — Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. — Roberta Flack
If she's amazing, she won't be easy. If she's easy, she won't be amazing. If she's worth it, you wont give up. If you give up, you're not worthy. ... Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for. — Bob Marley
What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Love that does not know of suffering is not worthy of the name. — Clare of Assisi
Throughout history many nations have suffered a physical defeat, but that has never marked the end of a nation. But when a nation has become the victim of a psychological defeat, then that marks the end of a nation. — Ibn Khaldun
The reason why China suffers bitterly from endless wars is because of the existence of feudal lords and kings. — Qin Shi Huang
We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace. — Albert Schweitzer
Because I'm a civil rights activist, I am also an animal rights activist. Animals and humans suffer and die alike. Violence causes the same pain, the same spilling of blood, the same stench of death, the same arrogant, cruel and vicious taking of life. We shouldn't be a part of it. — Dick Gregory
To me, cruelty is the worst of human sins. Once we accept that a living creature has feelings and suffers pain, then by knowingly and deliberately inflicting suffering on that creature, we are guilty, whether it be human or animal. — Jane Goodall
Human cruelty knows no limits and that one needs immense courage and a will of iron to help others understand that animals are made of flesh and blood like us, that they suffer the same pains as us, that they deserve the same respect as us and that their continuous slaughter should not be part of human entertainment. — Brigitte Bardot
As custodians of the planet it is our responsibility to deal with all species with kindness, love, and compassion. That these animals suffer through human cruelty is beyond understanding. Please help to stop this madness. — Richard Gere
All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering, the animals are our equals. — Peter Singer
There's no doubt in my mind that going vegetarian has made me feel better not only physically, but also because I learned about the suffering of animals who are raised and killed for food. I feel good knowing that I'm not contributing to that. — Sophie Monk
Auschwitz begins wherever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals. — Theodor Adorno
These birds and animals and fish cannot speak, but they can suffer, and our God who created them, knows their sufferings, and will hold him who causes them to suffer unnecessarily to answer for it. It is a sin against their Creator. — George Q. Cannon
Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. — Milan Kundera
Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being. — Gary A. Kowalski
What is it that should trace the insuperable line? ...The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? — Jeremy Bentham
It seems to me of great importance to teach children respect for life. Towards this end, experiments on living animals in classrooms should be stopped. To encourage cruelty in the name of science can only destroy the finer emotions of affection and sympathy, and breed an unfeeling callousness in the young towards suffering in all living creatures. — Eleanor Roosevelt
May all that have life be delivered from suffering. — Buddha
I refuse to eat animals because I cannot nourish myself by the sufferings and by the death of other creatures. I refuse to do so, because I suffered so painfully myself that I can feel the pain of others by recalling my own sufferings. — David Sztybel
If unconditional love, loyalty, and obedience are the tickets to an eternal life, then my black Labrador, Venus, will surely be there long before me, along with all the dear animals in nature who care for their young at great cost to themselves and have suffered so much at the hands of humans. — Richard Rohr
The indifference, callousness and contempt that so many people exhibit toward animals is evil first because it results in great suffering in animals, and second because it results in an incalculably great impoverishment of the human spirit. — Albert Einstein
I am for the animals, I couldn't care less about your need to eat animals, wear them, shoot them or exploit them. Too bad if you consider it suffering to let all that self-centered and traditional bullshit stop you from having the will to help the animals. — Rikki Rockett
Michael Vick may enjoy watching dogs fight. Someone else may find that repulsive but see nothing wrong with eating an animal who has had a life as full of pain and suffering as the lives of the fighting dogs. It's strange that we regard the latter as morally different from, and superior to, the former. — Gary L. Francione
Anybody who witnesses the suffering of animals and has a glimmer of hope of reducing that suffering can't take the position that it's all or nothing. We have to be pragmatic. Screw the principle. — Ingrid Newkirk
We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words. — Anna Sewell
Thousands of people who say they "love" animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terror of the abattoirs... — Jane Goodall
My own experience of over 60 years in biomedical research amply demonstrated that without the use of animals and of human beings, it would have been impossible to acquire the important knowledge needed to prevent much suffering and premature death not only among humans but also among [other] animals. — Albert Sabin
Every year tens of thousands of animals suffer and die in laboratory tests of cosmetics and household products...despite the fact that the test results do not help prevent or treat accidental or purposeful misuse of the products. Please join me in using your voice for those whose cries are forever sealed behind the laboratory doors. — Woody Harrelson
Giving cancer to laboratory animals has not and will not help us to understand the disease or to treat those persons suffering from it. — Albert Sabin
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. — Dalai Lama
I urge you to ask yourself just how honorable it is to preside over the abuse and suffering of animals. — Richard Pryor
The love of a dog for his master is notorious; in the agony of death he has been known to caress his master, and everyone has heard of the dog suffering under vivisection, who licked the hand of the operator; this man, unless he had a heart of stone, must have felt remorse to the last hour of his life. — Charles Darwin
It is not just that animals make the world more scenic or picturesque. The lives of animals are woven into our very being - closer than our own breathing - and our soul will suffer when they are gone. — Gary A. Kowalski
Animals are, like us, endangered species on an endangered planet, and we are the ones who are endangering them, it, and ourselves. They are innocent sufferers in a hell of our making. — Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Even should it be conclusively proved that human beings benefit directly from the suffering of animals, its infliction would nevertheless be unethical and wrong. — Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding
Being a thoughtful vegan makes our time on this Earth more peaceful and joyous, because you get to have a hand in promoting and increasing the happiness, good health and well-being of others -- both animal and human -- rather than being an instrument of their suffering and death. — Russell Simmons
Aquatic animals suffer from the disadvantage that they cannot scream when in pain, so we find it hard to gauge the degree of their agony. If fish could scream, angling purely for sport would be outlawed without delay. — Desmond Morris
Human beings are a part of the animal kingdom, not apart from it. The separation of "us" and "them" creates a false picture and is responsible for much suffering. It is part of the in-group/out-group mentality that leads to human oppression of the weak by the strong as in ethic, religious, political, and social conflicts. — Marc Bekoff
Anyone who tries to improve the lives of animals invariably comes in for criticism from those who believe such efforts are misplaced in a world of suffering humanity. — Jane Goodall
We have to create more and more vegetarians, and help people to understand that it is not only the suffering of the animals (which is what made me vegetarian) but also the incredible harm to the environment, the tremendous amount of greenhouse gas created by the whole vast machinery of intensive animal farming. — Jane Goodall
So in 1987 I gave up all animal products and became a vegan. Simply so that I could eat and live in accordance with my beliefs that animals have their own lives, that they're entitled to their own lives and that contributing to animal suffering is something that I don't want to be a part of. — Moby
In Conclusion
Which quotation resonated with you best? Did you enjoy our collection of animal suffering quotes? Or may be you have a slogan about animal suffering to suggest. Let us know using our contact form.
Citation
Feel free to cite and use any of the quotes in this collection of animal suffering quotations. For popular citation styles(APA, Chicago, MLA), please use this citation page.
