Human emotions are like works of art, they are not difficult to fake. Sometimes they only seem genuine, but if you take a closer look, they are fake.
From the film “The Best Offer”
Quora users asked an interesting question: do emotions make us weaker? And, if emotions really make us weaker, shouldn't people try to hide them from others?
We invite you to think about this topic.
It is important not only to express emotions, but also to control them
Emotions do not make people weaker. On the contrary, emotions make people stronger.
Emotions can drive us to create amazing things, and at the same time, they have driven people to commit terrible crimes throughout human history.
Many people pay tribute to logical thinking, while completely forgetting about the important role of emotions.
When a mother sacrifices herself to save her child, this is not logical thinking - this is love for her child. When an athlete gives his best to set a new record, he is not guided by logical thinking. This is self-motivation, a strong desire to win, to achieve something that no one has ever managed before, to make a leap forward.
A single father works 15 hours a day across two jobs to make ends meet. A sense of responsibility to his family makes him do this, not logical thinking.
Millions of people spend many years practicing their craft, be it playing a musical instrument, carving wood, knitting or anything else. The love for art inspires them to do this.
Emotions are a powerful driving force. There's nothing wrong with being passionate about something. Showing this passion in no way makes you weak. It makes you strong, sincere and real.
However, if you don't have control over your emotions, it can really make you weak.
Losing your composure, letting your fears take over - any emotion can become destructive if you don't control it.
In the end, it is important not only to express emotions, but also to control them, to be able to take responsibility for your actions, to take control of your life.
All because of fear
People who appear strong are not always so. Among them you can find frightened and weak people who will never show their true emotions because they fear that other people might use this knowledge against them.
Emotions make us human
Emotions are a way of communication that we use every day, without even noticing it. Emotions make us human - alive and able to empathize. Why should we hide them?
Don't hide your emotions
When you hide your emotions for fear that other people will find out about them, this is the position of a weak person. You allow complete strangers to run your life.
Know your emotions
Emotions themselves do not make you weak, but if you don’t pay attention to your emotions, don’t want to understand them, then you can already talk about weakness. People who do not suppress their emotions, try to feel them and explore them, are able to cope with difficult life situations, and they are more empathetic towards other people.
And if a person ignores his emotions, this indicates his emotional immaturity. If you accept and understand your emotions, you understand yourself better, and this cannot make you weaker.
Don't paint yourself into a corner
From childhood we are taught to hide our emotions. How often do children (especially boys) hear this phrase: “Don’t you dare cry!” Many of us learn this lesson well and conclude that it is indecent to show off our emotions.
But let's face it: constantly suppressing your emotions never leads to anything good. Sooner or later you will explode. For example, you feel despair, and after a while it transforms into anger and anger, which you will take out on the people around you.
If you constantly keep your emotions inside, this will lead to stress, apathy and even depression. Don't paint yourself into a corner.
What do you think about this?
Our physical body is the most wonderful machine imaginable! No human being has ever been able to invent anything that even remotely resembles it in function and efficiency. If we could create a computer that could take over all the functions of the human brain, its size would reach the size of the globe. Currently, human beings use only 5 to 10 percent of their brain capacity.
The human body instinctively knows what it needs from the moment of conception. He does not need to be taught how to sleep, how to feel thirsty or hungry, how to cry, cough, sweat, get warm or cool, digest food, yawn, feel sick, swallow, laugh, move, bleed, or heal. But as we grow older, we somehow stop trusting our instincts.
A mother trusts the instincts of her newborn baby. When he lets her know that he is hungry, she feeds him, she calms him down. When he's upset, she knows what his crying means... but as soon as he gets his first teeth, she decides he's ready to eat three meals a day. Within a few months after the birth of a child, we stop trusting his innate intelligence.
From such an early age, he learns to nourish his body based on the decisions of another person. The need to listen to another (the mother) prevents him from remaining in harmony with his true needs. By the time the child grows up, he has almost completely lost contact with them.
There is an interesting relationship between how we eat and drink and how our daily lives go.
How do you eat? Do you stick to a routine for eating? Are you eating unconsciously, without asking your body what it needs this time? We are so programmed to eat a certain way that it doesn't even occur to us that there is another, better way.
This reminds me of the story of a young wife who, before placing a ham on a baking sheet, trimmed both ends of it. The puzzled husband asked why she was doing this. “I don’t know - my mother always did this,” the wife explained. Out of curiosity, he asked his mother-in-law why she cut the ham at both ends, to which she replied: “I don’t know - my mother always baked the ham this way.”
When the whole family had gathered, he asked the same question to his wife’s grandmother. And she told him: “You know, young man, when I was little, my family lived very poorly. We only had one baking tray and it was too small for a whole ham, so we had to trim it at both ends.”
This story can well illustrate how little we think about why we act the way we do. In essence, we are slaves of habits, living unconsciously.
How important are habits and traditions to you? Pay attention to your eating habits. If you're like most North Americans, you probably eat at the same times every day, just sticking to a routine. We were taught that we should eat “three times a day.”
In addition, you are afraid that irregular meals will lead to increased hunger. If you are going somewhere in the evening and are afraid that your dinner will take place later than usual, you will certainly grab something before leaving the house. You worry about feeling hungry some time later, so out of fear you eat now before you get hungry.
Your body knows very well when it is truly hungry. It can function for weeks without receiving food, and this does not lead to any diseases. If you feel hungry two or three hours before you are supposed to eat, tell your body something like: “Please wait, Ruma. Not long left. I’ll feed you soon.”
When listening to your body's signals, never worry about whether you've eaten enough or not. It may seem to you that you feel hungry and that this signal is being sent to you by your body, whereas it is a signal from your mind that it is simply sending out out of habit.
If you find yourself with a lot of eating habits, you will also notice that you are constantly preoccupied with what others think and say about you. Instead of thinking, acting or dressing the way you like, you tend to be more interested in other people's reactions and try to ensure that your actions do not cause negative reactions from others.
Worrying about such unimportant things drains your energy and creates hidden inner dissatisfaction. Learn to recognize your true needs.
If you eat out of habit, it may also be an indication that you are dogmatic in your opinions and have very harsh judgments about what is right and wrong. You decide that this is right and that is wrong, when in fact there is no right or wrong.
What seems wrong to you may seem right to someone else. Give other people the opportunity to think and act as they see fit - regardless of whether they make “good” or “bad” decisions from your point of view.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the principle " live and let live"- let others live their lives the way they need to, and continue to move forward on your own path. To make your life successful, establish contact with their internal needs!
The way you eat may be closely related to habits that arise on a mental level. But usually the development of eating habits is still based on an emotional level.
In children, food often acts as a form of love or reward. Even now, you may find yourself trying to calm an upset child by offering him a cake or candy. Food is used to manipulate children. For example, a parent might say, “If you're a good boy, I'll take you to a restaurant,” or, “...I'll buy you ice cream.”
And here’s an even better example of manipulation with food: “If you behave badly, you’ll be left without dessert!” or: “...no sandwiches until you finish your homework.” What a flood of mixed messages your body is receiving! It came into this world with the confidence that food was meant to nourish it. And now he is taught that food is a tool for manipulating other people's behavior. What a blow this deals to our emotional selves!
Your childhood reactions to such manipulation may provide some insight into how you function as an adult. All food-related experiences that impacted you before the age of seven have left their mark on the mental, physical, and emotional levels (imprints of early eating habits and behaviors). Find these prints and you can get to the roots of your current gastronomic habits.
What can you learn about yourself from your current diet? Do you find yourself drinking or eating out of boredom to pass the time? to calm down or to reward yourself for something? Do you often find yourself eating for emotional pleasure? (In the next chapter, I'll talk about how to deal with eating habits that are driven by emotional reasons.)
Another reason for eating is the desire to please the palate. In this case, you eat because you have an “appetite” (Webster’s Dictionary defines “appetite” as the natural desire to satisfy the need for food).
Appetite is not a result of hunger. For example, many people can't resist the smell of popcorn, whether they're hungry or not. If the desire for pleasant sensations constantly takes over, you can find yourself in a rather difficult situation.
Another example: you are walking down the street and pass an ice cream parlor. Suddenly you feel an irresistible desire to eat ice cream - just the sight of it and the abundance of varieties makes you actively salivate. Again, your decision is guided by your feelings. But if one morning, sitting at your desk, you suddenly feel an irresistible need to eat something starchy, this is no longer an appetite.
This is a desire. It wasn't caused by any of your feelings. You wanted to eat that cake before you saw it, smelled it, or even heard about it. Ask yourself if you are really hungry. If not, then the desire to eat the cake could be generated for reasons of an emotional nature.
There are many other actions that appetite drives people to do. Under its influence you can shop, sleep, make love, etc. Try to observe yourself a little. What actions does your appetite drive you to do? Do you find it difficult to cope with your feelings? If so, you are not in control of the physical side of your existence. She is devoid of harmony.
By noticing what your appetite is driving you to do, you are receiving a message from your divine self. Ruma tells you that one or more of your senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch - are not receiving psychological satisfaction.
Vision
You allow yourself to worry about some things or events that you have to see at the present time. The body tells you: “What worries you has nothing to do with you - it’s none of your business...” or: “Instead of worrying, do something - come up with some solution to this problem.”
Hearing
What bothers you is what you hear at home or somewhere else. Don't judge, but try to resolve the situation.
Smell
Is there someone or something near you that you can't stand? It could be a friend, family member, co-worker, or just a piece of furniture.
Touch
Are you not getting enough love? And who forgot to sow at least a little? You only reap what you sow. There are many simple ways to express love - a kind word, a card, flowers, a love note or just a smile. It is very important to show yourself some signs of attention. Remember: once you sow something, you will definitely reap the harvest.
Taste
If you eat without appetite, it may mean that your sexual appetite remains unsatisfied. Only you can make the necessary changes to the current situation.
When one of your feelings remains unsatisfied and it bothers you, start acting. If the situation involves another person who did or said something that you didn’t like, then your body is sending a signal that it’s time to mind your own business. Take care of your needs and let the other person do what they need to do. It is very dangerous to make your happiness dependent on other people.
Whatever area of your life has the greatest influence on you, you must subordinate it to yourself. If this is a mental plan, start asking yourself questions: why do you perform certain actions this way and not otherwise? Why are you living on autopilot? Before you do anything, ask yourself:
“Will I be happier by doing this? Is it the best thing I can do for my benefit? Is this really what I want to do, say, or think?” Wait a few minutes and you will receive an answer. Your life will become more fulfilling when you become more aware of what you are doing and why.
If your life is ruled by the emotional sphere, learn to express yourself openly. (You can read more about this in Chapter 18.)
If the dominant role belongs to the physical sphere, ask yourself: “Which of my feelings is not being satisfied?” Go through all your feelings one by one and determine which one is not satisfied. Look inside yourself and take a closer look - your body knows everything.
By using this method of identifying the reasons for your behavior, you will learn something interesting about your inner self. You will realize that you live and operate on all three levels (physical, mental and emotional), but one of them is dominant.
Once you accept this concept, you will find that your eating habits will change - you will eat because you are hungry, and not for any emotional reasons or just out of habit. When your way of thinking changes, when you come closer to a state of harmony with your true nature, this may lead to you eating and dressing differently.
Your body never forgets its basic needs or its true nature. Learn to listen to him. Chemically, the body is made up of six main components: water, proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, lipids and minerals. Whenever the balance of any of these elements is disturbed, the body gives you a signal - it sends a message to the brain.
The brain conveys this message to you: it makes you feel hungry or thirsty - it creates a desire to eat or drink something very specific. By learning to clearly perceive these signals, you can ensure the right balance in your diet. This is necessary so that you can maintain yourself in optimal condition.
As you can see, once you learn to listen to your body, you can no longer worry about whether you are eating exactly what you need and in sufficient quantity. Don't doubt it - your body will tell you exactly what you need and when. You should never eat unless you are hungry, “just in case you can’t eat in time...” Wait for a signal from your body.
If it detects a deficiency in any of the nutrients, it will tell you what exactly is needed now (i.e. iron, calcium, protein, fat, sugar, etc.). The body will make sure that the food that provides balance is tasty to you. Your brain, the ultimate computer, records the chemical composition of everything you've ever tasted and knows exactly what to prescribe.
The physical body is responsible for communicating its needs to the brain. This role belongs to him, and not to reason. A person on a “diet” dictates to his body what and when to eat. This is contrary to nature.
By following a diet, you send the following message to your body: “From this day on, I will decide what you need, and when and how many times a day you will get it.” Do you think you know your physical needs better than your own body? Learn to trust your body!
For some people, one meal is enough - for example, just breakfast. Many people prefer to eat breakfast and dinner and skip lunch. There are people who need to “pinch” all the time - eat small portions throughout the day. You have to figure out what is best for you. Every person is unique. What is useful to one may not be useful to another.
It is very important to know how your body functions. Some people have problems absorbing calcium, while others have difficulty removing cholesterol from their bodies. Ignorance of the needs of your own physical body leads to a number of difficulties. Over time, you will reach such a level of consciousness that you will be aware of what is happening in your own body. Through the physical body, your superconscious mind controls the digestion and assimilation of food, the removal of unnecessary substances. Your responsibility is to help your body in every way possible.
As your level of awareness increases, you will be better able to recognize, interpret, and act on the messages your body is sending. Do your share of responsibilities and your body will do itss. As a result, your energy will come into a state of balance and begin to be distributed throughout the body more evenly. A state of harmony and balance will lead to your health improving and strengthening.
Many people consume foods that only lead to loss of energy and do not provide nutrition to the body. Such poisons include alcohol, white sugar (and other refined foods - white flour, white rice, white bread), caffeine, salt, tobacco and all chemicals (medicines, drugs, preservatives and dyes), as well as excess fat. There are a lot of good nutrition books on the market. If you want to delve deeper into this issue, I encourage you to visit your local bookstore or library.
Try to be aware of what you feed your body. If you haven't had to do this before, start right now. Develop and implement a balanced nutrition program for your body - within a few weeks you will notice that the chemical processes in it are stabilizing. Respect your body and take care of it. If you do this, then balance and harmony in the mental and emotional spheres will not take long to arrive.
Chemical processes occur in your body at the cellular level, and they are influenced by the nature of the interaction of all three spheres - physical, mental and emotional. Eating foods that contain poisons or substances that are difficult to digest shows disrespect for your own body.
For example, a dish of smoked or fried meat with salt and pickled cucumbers is difficult to digest and also contains toxic substances that weaken and poison the body. By forcing your body to swallow alcoholic drinks of various strengths, sweets and chemicals, you are declaring that you do not really love yourself. It robs your body of its strength, so don't be surprised if your body can't do what you ask it to do. The body is your best friend, you have to work together. Treat your body as you would treat a friend.
Craving for sugar is an indicator that you lack sweetness in your life. You don’t allow yourself to do anything that would give you pleasure, and if you do allow it, you are then tormented by a feeling of guilt.
A taste for salty foods indicates a critical person who tends to judge everything. Apparently, your most ruthless critic is yourself.
Addiction to spicy foods: You seem to be leading a quieter life than you would like.
The craving for caffeine indicates a need to perk up on a psychological level.
Instead of resorting to these things more and more every day, take a moment to look inside yourself and ask what you need to do to cheer yourself up and be happy.
Exercises for Chapter 10
Note: I strongly advise you to wait a week before moving on to the next chapter. During this week, reread chapter 10, paying attention to everything you eat and drink.
1. Before you eat or drink anything, ask yourself if you are really hungry. Also ask your body whether this product is what it needs. At the end of each day, write down how you felt and what happened to you at each meal. Did hunger, habit, or any other emotional reason prompt you to eat? The purpose of this exercise is not to create a “diet menu”. It will help you become more aware of what is dominant in your life, what part of it needs balancing - physical, mental or emotional. Once you identify this, you will find that you are now better able to understand and better meet your body's needs.
2. And here is the corresponding affirmation:
I'm taking better care of myself more and more and realizing what motivates my eating habits. Now I wait for my body to let me know what it needs and when it is hungry.
Sooner or later we have to think about some questions. Sometimes these are pressing questions, and sometimes they are philosophical. And films, books or even a song can push them towards them.
All this gives us food for thought. What kind of food is this? Let's talk in more detail.
What is it?
Food for thought is the questions that a person thinks about. Most often of a philosophical orientation. But not necessarily.
Having received such “nutrition” for the brain, we begin to actively move it. And this procedure sometimes helps to reconsider your views on life.
What is this for?
Why do we need food for thought? In order for people to move forward, to continue to improve and engage in self-development. When we think, we train our brain. Sometimes, in order to get an answer to a particular question, you have to search for additional information. A person not only begins to think actively, but also immerses himself in this process. By reading specialized literature, he develops himself.
Synonyms
Does the phrase “food for thought” have a synonym? Yes, the phrase can be replaced with the following phrases and words:
- There's a lot to think about.
- Task.
- Mystery.
Where do we get it from?
We get food for thought from books, films, music, news blocks, communication, and learning something new. The people around us can come up with a riddle that we will puzzle over for a long time.
While at school, children receive food for their minds every day. Homework is a necessity that contributes to the proper development of thinking and intelligence. By solving certain problems, the child forces his brain to function. The student has no time to do nonsense (although modern children find time for this). He seeks answers to the questions posed to him, works to solve them, becoming smarter day after day.
How do adults develop? Their work is often associated with routine. Everyday life and monotony at work are not the best factors for self-development.
But adults do not lose heart. They get food for thought from communicating with colleagues, acquaintances and simply interesting people. They also watch various interesting films, read magazines, and get involved in some activity called a hobby. It would seem, what kind of development can a hobby give? For example, the same cross stitch. It’s very strong, because you have to read a lot of literature on various embroidery methods, study the quality of threads, and select good needles for embroidery. You even have to understand the hoop.
Is sport a development?
Sports can also provide food for thought. When studying physiology and anatomy, for example. Therefore, sports activities can safely be called development. Here the emphasis is mainly on developing a healthy lifestyle and sports behavior. But if you wish, you can improve your own knowledge.
Books give us food for thought. Almost any book can become the key to knowledge. Starting with simple and children's fairy tales. It’s not for nothing that they say that a fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it.
Take any Russian writer whose works have become classics. The same Pushkin with his “Dubrovsky”, for example. There is a lot to think about after reading this book.
Ostrovsky, Dostoevsky, Blok, Kuprin - the list can be endless. Let's highlight some books that provide food for thought:
- Tolstoy, Anna Karenina. A powerful work that is worth re-reading as an adult.
- Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment". Another book that makes you think hard about many things.
- Kuprin, "Olesya". A work about human cruelty and great love.
- Nabokov, "Lolita". Changes some views on life.
- Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita". The book may seem a little scary, but there are spiritual aspects hidden in it.
By the way, about spiritual books. The New Testament is the Book of books. Every time you read it, you get food for thought. And you discover something new for yourself.
There are many books on psychology that force us to reconsider our own views on the essence of existence.
Choosing a movie
Sometimes you want to watch something that will make a person start thinking about the plot of the film. And he will solve some life mystery. What kind of food-for-thought films can you find? Here are some of them:
- "Cloud Atlas".
- "Requiem for a Dream".
- "Silence of the Lambs"
- "Black Ball".
- "Shutter Island"
- "Something's wrong with Kevin."
- "The boy in striped pajamas."
- "Stalingrad".
- “And the dawns here are quiet.”
- "Tomorrow there was a war."
- "They fought for their homeland."
- "Island".
- "The Monk and the Demon"
This is only a small fraction of the whole variety. By the way, even cartoons can give a reason to think about some things.
Music
This should list the songs you need to listen to to get food for thought. But we will simply list the performers and groups that would be nice to get to know:
- Victor Tsoi.
- Valery Kipelov.
- "Agatha Christie".
- "Aria".
- "Dune".
- "Lyube."
- "Earthlings."
- "Year of the Snake".
- "Tractor Bowling".
It may surprise some to know that all the bands listed here are quite old. Yes, that's true. Old songs about the main thing, as they say, push you to think about your own life. One song "April" performed by Viktor Tsoi is worth something.
Communication
Conversations with educated people provide food for thought. When we communicate with people, we can accept their arguments. Or we can deny, thereby forcing ourselves to think about them.
Even from a simple friendly conversation you can get something educational. Of course, if the conversation is normal, and not chatter or washing the bones of all mutual acquaintances.
Conclusion
So we are introduced to the meaning of food for thought. We answered the question and found out where to look for that very “fuel” for the brain. The more a person develops, the more food for the mind he receives.
Noun, g., used. often Morphology: (no) what? food, what? food, (see) what? food, what? food, about what? about food 1. Food is something that satisfies hunger, satiates, supports strength, existence, food. Food supplies. | Meat, plant foods. | Healthy... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary
FOOD, and, women. 1. What they eat, what they eat. Delicious p. Healthy p. Shchi and porridge p. ours (words). 2. transfer, for what. What is the material for what n. activity, source for what n. (book). P. for the mind, reflection. Provide food for... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
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Books
- Isaac Adizes. The best. Food for Thought, Adizes Yitzhak Calderon. This book contains the best quotes from the books and lectures of Isaac Calderon Adizes, the world's leading expert on leadership and change management. The book consists of three parts: changes and...
- Adizes. The best. Food for thought. About change and leadership, about management and what is important in life, Adizes, Itzhak Kalderon. This book contains the best quotes from the books and lectures of Isaac Calderon Adizes, the world's leading expert on leadership and change management. The book consists of three parts: changes and...
Jesus (3 BC-36 AD):
And the flesh of the slain creatures in his body will become his own grave. For I tell you truly, he who kills kills himself; he who eats the flesh of the slain eats of the body of death.
(Essinian Gospel of Peace)
Buddha Shakyamuni (563-483 BC):
For the sake of the ideals of goodness and purity, the Bodhisattva should refrain from eating the flesh of slain animals born from semen, blood, and the like. In order to avoid frightening animals and freeing them from the shackles of horror, a Bodhisattva who strives to gain compassion should not eat the flesh of living beings...
(Lankavatara Sutra)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer-inventor and scientist):
Truly, man is the king of beasts, for what other beast can compare with him in cruelty. We live by killing others: we are walking graves!
("The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci", D.S. Merezhkovsky)
From an early age I avoided eating meat and I believe that the time will come when people like me will look at the killing of an animal the same way they now look at the killing of a person.
("The Da Vinci Notes")
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1920, Russian humanist writer)
It's horrible! Not the suffering and death of living beings, but the way a person unnecessarily suppresses the highest spiritual principle in himself - the feeling of compassion and pity towards living beings like him - and, trampling on his own feelings, becomes cruel. But how strong is this commandment in the human heart - not to kill living things!
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832, English philosopher, economist and jurist):
The day will come when all representatives of the animal world will acquire those inalienable rights that only the power of tyranny would dare to violate... One fine day we will finally realize that the number of limbs, the quality of fur or the structure of the spine are not sufficient grounds for determining the fate of a living being . What else can serve as a criterion for determining the line that we are not allowed to cross? Maybe it's reason or meaningful speech? But then an adult horse or dog is a much more intelligent and sociable creature than a baby who is a day, a week or even a month old. Let's even say that the reality would be exactly the opposite, but what does this change in the end? The question is not, can they reason? Can they talk? But the question is, are they capable of suffering?
("Principles of Morals and Lawmaking")
Annie Besant (1847-1933, English philosopher, humanist and social activist, active participant in the liberation movement in India):
Meat consumers are responsible for all the pain and suffering that comes from eating meat and is caused by the very fact of eating living beings. Not only the horrors of the slaughterhouse, but also the preceding tortures of transportation, hunger, thirst, the endless torments of fear that these unfortunate creatures are doomed to endure in order to satisfy the gastronomic desires of man... all this pain places a heavy burden on the human race, slowing down, inhibiting its progress and development...
Diogenes (412?-323? BC; Greek philosopher):
We can just as easily eat human flesh as we do animal flesh.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1883, American essayist, philosopher and poet):
You have just had lunch; and no matter how carefully the slaughterhouse is hidden from your unintentional gaze, no matter how many long miles separate you, the complicity is obvious.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948, leader and ideologist of the Indian national liberation movement, prominent public and political figure):
An indicator of the greatness of a nation and the level of morality in a society can be the way its representatives treat animals.
I do not regard the flesh of slaughtered animals as necessary food for us. On the contrary, I am convinced that it is unacceptable for humans to eat meat. We are mistaken in our attempts to copy lower animals, while in fact surpassing them in development.
The only way to live is to let others live.
Cow protection for me is one of the most remarkable phenomena in all of human evolution, since it takes man beyond the boundaries of his species. The cow for me symbolizes the entire animal world. Man, through the cow, is called upon to understand his unity with all living things... The cow is a song of pity... The protection of cows symbolizes the protection of all the dumb creatures of God... The prayer of those standing below us on the steps of evolution is wordless, and this is its strength.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924, famous Austrian-Czech writer):
Now I can look at you calmly; I won't eat you anymore.
(so the writer said while admiring the fish in the aquarium)
John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943, American surgeon, founder of Battle Creek Sanatorium Hospital):
Flesh is not an optimal food for humans and historically was not part of the diet of our ancestors. Meat is a secondary, derivative product, because initially all food is supplied by the plant world. There is nothing useful or essential for the human body in meat and animal products that cannot be found in plant foods. A dead cow or sheep lying in a meadow is called carrion. The same corpse, decorated and hung in a butcher's shop, passes for the category of delicacies! A careful microscopic examination will show only minimal differences between the carrion under the fence and the meat carcass in the store (or the complete absence of such). Both are infested with pathogenic bacteria and emit a putrid odor.
Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949, Belgian playwright, essayist and poet):
If only one day man realizes the possibility of living without animal food, this will mean not only a fundamental economic revolution, but also a noticeable progress in the morality and ethics of society.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873, English philosopher and economist):
Realizing that the suffering experienced by animals under the existing state of affairs is disproportionately greater than the pleasures obtained as a result by humans, should we recognize such practices as moral or immoral? And if people, unsuccessfully trying to raise their heads from the quagmire of egoism and selfishness, do not unanimously answer “Immoral,” then let the moral component of the principle of utilitarianism be forgotten forever.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592, French humanist philosopher, essayist):
As for me, I have never been able to look without shuddering at how innocent and defenseless animals, who do not pose any threat and have not caused us any harm, are mercilessly persecuted and destroyed by man.
In his description of the Golden Age under Saturn, Plato, among other things, depicts such qualities of the human race as the ability to communicate with the animal world. By exploring and cognizing it, a person knows all its true qualities and he is aware of the existing differences among its representatives. Through this, man gains perfect knowledge and prudence, living happily in peace and harmony of which we can only dream. Do we need other, even more compelling arguments to condemn human recklessness in treating our smaller brothers?
("Apology for Raymond Sebond")
Ovid (43 BC - 17? AD, Roman poet):
O mortals! Be afraid to defile
Their bodies with this wicked food,
Look - your fields are full of grains,
And the branches of the trees bowed under the weight of the fruit,
Vegetables and herbs that are tasty are given to you,
When prepared by a skilled hand,
The vine is rich in bunches,
And fragrant clover gives honey,
Truly, Mother Nature is generous,
Giving us an abundance of these delicacies,
She has everything for your table,
Everything... to avoid murder and bloodshed.
Plutarch (46-120 AD, Greek historian and biographer, best known for his work Comparative Lives)
I, for my part, am perplexed, what must have been the feelings, state of mind or state of mind of the first man when, having killed an animal, he brought the bloody flesh of the victim to his lips? How can he, having placed treats of eerie corpses and carrion on the table in front of the guests, give names of “meat” and “edible” to something that only yesterday was walking, mooing, bleating, and looking around? How can his vision bear the sight of the shed blood of innocent victims, the flayed and mutilated bodies? How his sense of smell endures this terrible smell of death and how all these horrors do not spoil his appetite when he chews flesh filled with pain, savoring the blood of a mortal wound.
But how to explain the fact that this madness of gluttony and greed pushes you to the sin of bloodshed, when there is an abundance of resources all around to ensure our comfortable existence? What makes you slander the Earth as unable to provide us with everything we need?... Aren’t you ashamed to put an agricultural product on the same level as a torn victim of a massacre? Indeed, it is customary among you to call snakes, leopards and lions wild beasts, while you yourself are covered in blood and are in no way inferior to them. What they kill is their only food, but what you kill is only a whim, a delicacy for you.
However, we do not eat lions and wolves in order of retribution and vengeance, we leave them in peace. We catch the innocent and defenseless, without a deadly sting or sharp fangs, and kill them mercilessly.
But if you are convinced that you were born with such a predisposition to carnal food, as is commonly believed among people, then why don’t you yourself kill what will later be used for your food? Be consistent and do everything yourself, without cutlasses, clubs and axes - like wolves, bears or lions do when killing and eating their prey. Bite a bull with your own teeth, gnaw the throat of a boar, tear a lamb or a rabbit into pieces, and devour them, pouncing on those still alive, as predators do. But if you prefer to stand on the sidelines until your victim dies, and you hate sending someone to the next world with your own hands, why then, contrary to the laws of Nature, do you continue to eat living beings?
("On Eating Flesh")
Alexander Pope (1688-1744, English poet)
Like a luxury depraved dream
Decline and illness replaces,
So death carries vengeance within itself,
And the shed blood calls for retribution.
A wave of mad rage
Born of this blood from eternity,
Having unleashed a scourge on the human race,
The most ferocious beast - Man.
("Essay on Man")
Porphyry (232-? AD, Greek philosopher, author of a number of philosophical treatises):
One who refrains from causing harm to living things... will be much more careful not to harm members of his own species. The one who loves his fellow creatures does not hate other types of living beings.
Sending animals to the slaughterhouse and the cauldron, thereby participating in murder and not out of gastronomic inevitability, following the natural laws of nature, but for the sake of pleasure and indulging the demon of gluttony, is a monstrous injustice.
Well, isn’t it absurd, seeing how many representatives of the human race live only by instincts, not possessing reason and intelligence, seeing how many of them surpass their most fierce beasts in anger, aggression and atrocities, killing their children and parents, becoming tyrants and instrument of tyranny, (is it not absurd) to imagine that we should be fair to them, and to discard any notion of justice to the bull that plows our fields, to the dog that guards us, to those who give milk to our table and dresses our bodies in his wool? Isn't this state of affairs more than absurd and illogical?
("Refusal of animal food")
Prasad Rajendra (1884-1963, first President of the Republic of India):
Any integrated view of life as a whole will inevitably reveal the relationship between what an individual eats and how he relates to others. By further thought (not so fantastical) we will come to the conclusion that the only way to avoid the hydrogen bomb is to move away from the basic state of mind that created this bomb, and the only way to avoid this mentality is to develop respect for all living things, all forms life, under any circumstances. And all this is just another synonym for vegetarianism.
Henry S. Salt (1851-1939, English humanist and reformer, friend of Gandhi and Shaw):
If “Rights” really exist (and intuition and practice indisputably testify to this), it would be at least unfair to give rights only to people, denying them to animals, for the same principle of justice and compassion applies in both cases. “Pain is pain,” says Humphrey Primatt, “whether it is experienced by man or animal”; and the tormented creature, whether animal or human, experiencing suffering, suffers from Evil. Evil entails torment that is undeserved and groundless, which is not a punishment for what has been done, which will not serve any good purpose, and which is only a manifestation of the power and authority to commit atrocities with impunity. The reason for this must be sought in the cruelty and injustice inherent in people.
("Animal Rights")
On the contrary, I believe that man, in the process of being "humanized" not by culinary schools, but by schools of philosophical thought, will abandon the barbaric habit of eating the flesh of slaughtered animals and will gradually develop a pure, simple, more humane and therefore more civilized diet.
Today's animal transport ships remind me of the worst version of the slave ships of fifty years ago.... The current practice of killing animals for human food, in its barbarity and cruelty, is the direct opposite of what I understand by “humane diet.”
You invite a beautiful girl to dinner and offer her... a ham sandwich! The old saying goes that it is foolish to throw pearls before swine. What can we say about that politeness that slaughters pigs before a pearl?
Vegetarianism is the diet of the future. This is as true as the fact that meat-eating belongs to the past. In this so familiar and at the same time such a striking contrast - a vegetable shop next door to a meat shop - life teaches us an invaluable lesson. On the one hand we can see barbarism and savagery in action - headless carcasses frozen in an eerie likeness of living creatures, joints, pieces of bloody flesh, internal organs with their sickening smell, the piercing screech of a hacksaw cutting through bone, the dull blows of an ax - all this incessant scream protest against the horrors of meat-eating. And in defiance of this frightening sight, right next to it you can see a wealth of scattered golden fruits, worthy of a poet’s pen - food that absolutely corresponds to the physical structure and innate instincts of a person, food that can more than satisfy all conceivable needs of the human body. Seeing this striking contrast and realizing all the difficult steps that must be taken and the difficulties that must be overcome, is there any room for doubt that this path of development, which we have to go through from barbarism to humanity, is clearly presented here and now before our eyes? .
This logic of the butcher shop is the exact opposite of true reverence for all living things, for it implies that the true lover of animals is the one whose pantry is most fully stocked with them:
He who prays better, who eats better
All creatures great and small...
(play on words and paraphrase of a verse of an old song)
This is the philosophy of the wolf, the shark, the cannibal.
("The Humanity of Diet")
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860, German philosopher):
Since compassion for animals is so inextricably linked with positive human character traits, it is safe to say that anyone who abuses animals cannot be a good person.
Albert Schweitzer(1875-1965, famous missionary doctor who made a significant contribution to the development of health care in Africa, theologian, musician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 1952):
When any animal is forced into the service of man, the suffering it suffers as a result is a common problem for us. No one, as long as he can prevent it, should condone pain and suffering for which he does not want to be responsible. No one should distance themselves from the problem, thinking that it is none of their business. No one should shirk the burden of responsibility. As long as there is rampant cruelty to animals, as long as the groans of hungry and thirsty creatures can be heard unnoticed from railway cars, as long as cruelty reigns in the slaughterhouses and so many animals meet terrible deaths at the hands of unskilled people in our kitchens, as long as animals are forced to endure indescribable torment from heartless people or serve as the object of cruel games of our children, until then we are all guilty and together bear the burden of responsibility for everything that happens.
Good - supports and cherishes life; Evil destroys and hinders it.
A person can be called spiritual (moral) only when he follows his duty to protect all living things that he is able to protect, and when he goes his own way, avoid, as far as possible, causing harm to living things. Such a person does not ask the question of how much this or that life form deserves sympathy for itself or how much it is capable of feeling. For him, life as such is sacred. He will not break the icicle that sparkles in the sun, will not tear a leaf from a tree, will not touch a flower and will try not to crush a single insect while walking. If he is working on a summer evening by the light of a lamp, he would rather close the window and work in the stuffiness than watch as one after another the moths fall on his table with singed wings.
The fact that animals, being silent victims of so many experiences, have rendered a great service to suffering man through their pain and suffering, implies the existence of some new and unique bond, a solidarity, between us and the animal world. The result of this is a new responsibility falling on us all to do good to all living beings, in all circumstances, to the extent that it is in our power. When I help an insect get out of trouble, all I do is just an attempt to atone for at least part of the guilt that lies with us for all these atrocities against our smaller brothers.
("Civilization and Ethics")
Seneca (4? BC - 65 AD, Roman philosopher, playwright and statesman):
The principles of avoidance of animal food formulated by Pythagoras, if true, teach purity and innocence; if they are false, then at least they teach us frugality, and how great will your loss be if you lose your cruelty? I'm just trying to deprive you of the food of lions and vultures. We are able to find our common sense only by separating ourselves from the crowd - for often the very fact of encouragement by the majority can serve as a sure sign of the depravity of a particular view or course of action. Ask yourself: “What is moral?”, not “What is accepted among people?” Be moderate and restrained, kind and fair, forever renounce bloodshed.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950, English playwright and critic):
Why are you holding me accountable for simply choosing to eat modestly? You should have done this sooner if I had grown fat on the burnt corpses of animals.
When a man wants to kill a tiger, he calls it sport; When a tiger wants to kill a person, he calls it bloodthirstiness.
Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends.
In my will, I expressed my will regarding the organization of my funeral. The funeral procession will not consist of mourning carriages, but of a line of bulls, sheep, pigs, flocks of birds and a small mobile aquarium with fish. All those present will wear white scarves as a sign of respect for the man who sank into eternity and during his lifetime did not eat his fellow creatures.
Think about the incredible energy that is contained in the acorn! You bury it in the ground and it shoots out like a mighty oak tree. Bury a sheep and you will get nothing but a rotting corpse. If the government forces its citizens to bury beans instead of sheep in their stomachs, I refuse to be responsible for the possible consequences of such a step. A vegetarian today can easily turn into a Bolshevik tomorrow. Bull is a vegetarian, and if John Bull were to adopt a similar diet, it might take all the resources of the public treasury to put a ring in his nose.
("Henderson, Reveler and Prophet")
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822, English poet):
Only through the softening and embellishment of dead flesh in the process of culinary processing does it become suitable for chewing and digestion, losing the appearance of a bloody mess that can only cause nauseating fear and disgust. Let's ask active supporters of meat-eating to conduct an experiment, as Plutarch recommends us to do: tear apart a living sheep with his teeth and, plunging his head into its entrails, quench his thirst with fresh blood... and not yet recovering from the horror of what he has done, let him listen to the call of his nature, who cries out to the contrary, and tries to say: “Nature created me this way, and this is my destiny.” Then and only then will he be a completely consistent person.
Herbert Shelton (1895-, famous American naturopathic physician):
Cannibals go out hunting, track down and kill their prey - another person, then fry and eat him, exactly as they would do with any other game. There is not a single fact, not a single argument to justify meat-eating that could not be used to justify cannibalism.
("Perfect Nutrition")
Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991, writer, Nobel laureate):
Truly, at the creation of the world, the Almighty had to extinguish for a while the light of His Radiance; it is known that there is no freedom of choice without suffering. But since animals are not endowed with freedom of choice, why should they suffer?
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941, Indian Bengali poet, Nobel laureate):
We are able to consume flesh only because we do not think at this moment about how cruel and sinful our actions are. There are many crimes that are such only in the context of human society, crimes whose illegality lies only in deviation from generally accepted norms, customs and traditions. Cruelty is not one of them. It is a fundamental sin, an evil, and cannot be debated or interpreted. If only we do not allow our heart to harden, it will protect us from cruelty, its call is always clearly heard; and yet we continue to commit cruelty over and over again, doing it easily, joyfully, all of us - to tell the truth. Those who do not join us, we hasten to call strange eccentrics not of this world... And, even after pity has awakened in our hearts, we prefer to suppress our feelings, just to keep up with others in their hunt for all living things, we thereby insult all the good that glimmers inside us. I have chosen a vegetarian lifestyle for myself.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862, American writer, thinker, naturalist):
For me there is no doubt that humanity in the process of its evolution will stop eating animals, just as once wild tribes stopped eating each other when they came into contact with more developed ones.
François Voltaire (1694-1778, French writer and philosopher)
[Porfiry] considers animals as our brothers, because they, just like us, are endowed with life and share with us life principles, feelings, concepts, memory, aspirations - the same as we do. Human speech is the only thing they are deprived of. If they had one, would we dare to kill and eat them? Will we continue to commit this fratricide?
H. G. Wells (1866-1946, English novelist and historian)
In the world of Utopia there is no such thing as meat. Previously, yes, but now even the very thought of slaughterhouses is unbearable. Among the population, which is universally educated and has approximately the same level of physical perfection, it is almost impossible to find anyone who will undertake to butcher a dead sheep or pig. We have not fully understood the hygienic aspect of eating meat. Another, more important aspect decided everything. I still remember how, as a child, I rejoiced at the closure of the last slaughterhouse.
("Modern Utopia")
Zen Master Ikkyu
Saving birds, animals, including ourselves, -
This is the purpose of Shakyamuni's religious practices.
Zen Master Dogen
Every creature on earth
Perfect in its own way:
Wherever it is,
He manages to take his place in the world.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1853-1919, American poet and short story writer):
I am the voice of thousands of dumb creatures,
Through me the dumb will speak,
And to the ears of a world deaf to their suffering
I try to convey the sad truth.
We are born by one higher will
Both the sparrow bird and man are the king of nature.
The Almighty has equally endowed with soul
Feathered, furry and all other creatures.
And I stand guard over our brothers
Herald of Nature - birds, animals.
I will fight this unequal battle,
Until this world becomes kinder.
