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.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of compassion and the moral obligation to treat all beings with respect and kindness.
Moby's quote challenges us to reflect on our moral responsibilities towards others by highlighting the reprehensibility of actions that lead to suffering. It advocates for empathy, urging individuals to recognize that actions leading to harm, whether towards humans or animals, are unethical and calls for a universal application of the 'Golden Rule' – to treat others as one wishes to be treated, fostering a compassionate society.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on human rights, one might reference this quote to stress the importance of compassion in policies.
More from Moby
All quotes →But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him; and in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him.
I love to be busy. I'm envious of people who are able to take their spare time and relax. All I like to do is work. Perhaps it's lingering Calvinist guilt?
There might be a lot of difference between Republicans and Democrats on key social issues like women's rights and health care. But when it comes to taking corporate cash, they're pretty much the same beast.
And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves, and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists.
It's heartbreaking that so many hundreds of millions of people around the world are desperate for the right to vote, but here in America people stay home on election day.
Similar quotes
We boast of our freedom, and we have your example for it. We talk the language we have always heard you speak.
Be Charitable before wealth make thee covetous, and loose not the glory of the Mite.
The cold view to take of our future is that we are therefore headed for extinction in a universe of impersonal chemical, physical, and biological laws. A more productive, certainly more engaging view, is that we have the intelligence to grasp what is happening, the composure not to be intimidated by its complexity, and the courage to take steps that may bear no fruit in our lifetimes.
Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a movable body.
Man became free when he recognized that he was subject to law.
The grand delusion of contemporary liberals is that they have both the right and the ability to move their fellow creatures around like blocks of wood - and that the end results will be no different than if people had voluntarily chosen the same action