VOICE OF COMPASSION (A)

And Jesus spoke unto them of the law of love and the unity of all life in the one family of God - Gospel of the Holy Twelve

Animals: Verily these are your fellow creatures of the great household of God, yea they are your brothers and sisters, having the same breath of life in the Eternal. And whosoever careth for one of the least of these and giveth it to eat and drink in its need, the same doeth it unto me - Jesus. Gospel of the Holy Twelve

All creatures fear before danger, life is dear to all. When a man considers this, he does not kill or cause to kill - Gautama Buddha

I am in favour of animal rights, as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being - Abraham Lincoln

I wish no living thing to suffer pain - Percy Bysshe Shelley

If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals - Leo Tolstoy

If man is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practise kindness towards animals, for 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 - Immanuel Kant

Man's sacred trust: 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 wherever they require it - St.Francis of Assisi

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 - Thomas Edison

The establishment of the common origin of all species logically involves a readjustment of altruistic morals, by enlarging the application of what has been called the 'golden rule' from the area of mere mankind to that of the whole animal kingdom - Thomas Hardy

The saints are exceedingly kind and gentle to mankind, and even to brute beasts...surely we ought to show them (animals) great kindness and gentleness for many reasons, but, above all, because they are of the same origin as ourselves - St. John Chrysostom

The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another, even the lowliest creature; to do so is to renounce our manhood and shoulder a guilt which nothing justifies - Albert Schweitzer

To derive pleasure in being cruel is a very debasing matter. It shows a person to be unmindful of the sanctity of life and the meaning of life. There is something very foul and evil in the lives of men and women who delight in destroying helpless life, especially in what is known as 'blood sports' - Reverend F. C. Baker

To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man - Mahatma Gandhi

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened - Anatole France

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace - Albert Schweitzer