Douglas Hofstadter Quotes

We do not think clearly about our moral obligations to animals.

The beliefs I was raised with - to respect animals and to be aware of nature, to understand that we share this planet with other creatures - have had a huge impact on me.

If slaughterhouses had glass walls the whole world would be vegetarian.

PETA's campaign should be included in school curricula. If we can open children's hearts and minds to animals' needs, teach them to treat a dog or a chicken as if they feel fear and love and pain - as they do - then they will grow up to understand that we are all worthy of respect.

I just don't like killing creatures.

Animal welfare issues have always been important to me.

To a certain extent, I think I've become an animal-rights person.

The question is not, 'Can they reason?' nor, 'Can they talk?' but rather, 'Can they suffer?'

At PETA, we often say that the issue of how animals are treated isn't just about them; it's about us, how we behave.

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.

We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away.

Richard doesn't really like me to kill bugs, but sometimes I can't help it.

I wouldn't want to see any animal in pain, no matter what.

We have abolished the death penalty for humans, so why should it continue for animals?

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.

I don't think a living being should suffer for the sake of fashion, period. End of story. You don't have to kill an animal just because you want to be hot and fly. And I really stand by that.

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

Strictly speaking, my interest is not in legal rights for animals but in a change of heart towards animals.

Are we beasts? Are we taking this too far?

Look, I do spray flies, but I have a really big conscience.

I do not want an animal to die for me.

The animal rights cause is something close to my heart and something I truly believe in.

I can't even kill a lobster without saying a Hail Mary for it.

Mankind's real moral test, a test so radical and so deep that it escapes our gaze, is probably the one of its relations with those that are the most at its mercy; the Animals.

Because Christian morality leaves animals out of account, they are at once outlawed in philosophical morals; they are mere 'things,' mere means to any ends whatsoever. They can therefore be used for vivisection, hunting, coursing, bullfights, and horse racing, and can be whipped to death as they struggle along with heavy carts of stone. Shame on such a morality that is worthy of pariahs, and that fails to recognize the eternal essence that exists in every living thing, and shines forth with inscrutable significance from all eyes that see the sun!