Meat-eater Quotes

I initially became a vegetarian for this reason: I have a great hatred for the treatment of animals in what we call factory farms. That, I felt, was one of the most horrible and bestial things, and I was constantly protesting about it. Then, when I protested, somebody would say to me, "Do you eat meat?" And if I said, "yes," then they would say, "Well, how do you know that that isn't made in this way?" And I realized that if I were to remain a meat-eater that I couldn't go on protesting. So that was the actual impulse. But since then I've come to feel that it does purify one, and I would find it very abhorrent to go back to eating meat. I've found that it has got a spiritual significance, but my initial motive was that-to be able to give a valid answer to that. (Malcolm Muggeridge)

I've seen how violently animals raised for food are treated, and I don't want to support that. ... The fact that the meat on my plate was once a living, breathing creature became something I could no longer ignore or justify as food. ... As someone who felt they were a confirmed meat-eater, I guess ultimately if I can do it, then anyone can, you know―it's a really easy choice to make. And it's a humane choice to make.

Owain Yeoman

The symbolism of meat-eating is never neutral. To himself, the meat-eater seems to be eating life. To the vegetarian, he seems to be eating death.

Mary Midgley

The symbolism of meat-eating is never neutral. To himself, the meat-eater seems to be eating life. To the vegetarian, he seems to be eating death. There is a kind of gestalt-shift between the two positions which makes it hard to change, and hard to raise questions on the matter at all without becoming embattled.

Mary Midgley