Abraham Lincoln Quotes

Truly, I would not hang a dog by my will, much more a man who hath any honesty in him.

There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham.

A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.

Whether or not we are religious, respecting others should be seen as just as important as looking out for ourselves, yet it requires discipline to change our bad habits that cause pain to animals.

A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.

Not everyone is able to show courage, but human decency must be demanded of every person.

I believe that to knowingly commit actions that cause or condone suffering is reprehensible in the extreme. I call upon you to be compassionate and treat others as you want to be treated. If you don't want to be beaten, imprisoned, mutilated, killed or tortured then you shouldn't condone such behavior towards anyone, be they human or not.

Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.

He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.

I think regardless of what your religion is or what you believe, you try to treat people in a positive way, and that's all you can do in life.

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.

It doesn't matter what tradition you come from, what religion you have or don't, what culture you were brought up in or what God you ascribe to: Faith is worthwhile as it helps us to be kinder, more generous, more loving and forgiving people.

Animal-rights advocates remind us of this admonition: The ways in which people treat animals will be reflected in how people relate to one another.

Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.

If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.

I believe in preventing cruelty to all living beings in any form.

The ways in which people treat animals will be reflected in how people relate to one another.

The measure of a decent human being is how he or she treats the defenseless.

Religious people... hold a kind and merciful view of life, the faith of the broken, the hounded, the hopeless. Yet too often, they will not extend that spirit to our fellow creatures.

I think it's imperative to have faith or religion, because it's good to have morals, to be kind to others.

We decided that how we react to and treat those fellow mortals, wild and domestic, tells us more about ourselves than, perhaps, some of us want to know.

Animal life is also sacred to the Creator. A Christian may kill animals to provide food and clothing or to protect himself from sickness and danger … But it is wrong to mistreat animals or to kill them just for sport or pleasure.

We're so much more likely to feel sympathy for an animal than another person; thus, the best fiction uses animals to define truly humane behavior.

The happiest people I know as a nation are the Burmese; their brightness and cheeriness are proverbial. Kindness to animals is one of their greatest 'weaknesses'; no Burmese will kill an animal, even if it is to put it out of pain.

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.