Vegetarianism is a link to perfection and peace. But it's a small link. There are lots of other issues: apartheid , vivisection, political prisoners, the arms race. There's so much going on in this world today, so much ignorance among people. That's not to say I'm not standing amongst everybody. But the point is, what can we do now? That's the thing about vegetarianism; it's an individual's decision and it's something you have control over. How many things do we really have control over?
Interpretation
Vegetarianism represents a personal choice toward a better world, yet it is just one aspect of many larger issues we face.
In this quote, River Phoenix emphasizes the significance of vegetarianism not only as a diet choice but also as a moral stance towards perfection and peace. However, he acknowledges that it is only one small link in a vast network of global issues such as apartheid and political oppression. He highlights the importance of recognizing our individual power to make choices amidst the overwhelming challenges in the world, prompting us to consider what actions we can take personally.
In practice
In a discussion about ethical eating, one could quote this to emphasize the personal responsibility we have in making choices.
We need an extreme movement because what is happening to animals is so extreme. Some misinformed people claim that animal rights activists are terrorists, but these people are simply ignorant of who the real terrorists are - the companies and industries that torture literally billions of animals each year.
There are few persons, even among the calmest thinkers, who have not occasionally been startled into a vague yet thrilling half credence in the supernatural, by coincidences of so seemingly marvellous a character that, as mere coincidences, the intellect has been unable to receive them.
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise, Into the living sea of waking dreams, Where there is neither sense of life or joys, But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems; And e'en the dearest--that I love the best-- Are strange--nay, rather stranger than the rest.
Now I no longer live in our clear, rational world; I live in the ancient nightmare world, the world of square roots of minus one.
Until you can see everything in the world as your friend, your work is not done.
I hope...that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for in my opinion there never was a good war, or a bad peace.
I now wish that I had spent somewhat more of my life with verse. This is not because I fear having missed out on truths that are incapable of statement in prose. There are no such truths; there is nothing about death that Swinburne and Landor knew but Epicurus and Heidegger failed to grasp. Rather, it is because I would have lived more fully if I had been able to rattle off more old chestnuts — just as I would have if I had made more close friends.
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