The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.     ~  St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscans Order

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them, that's the essence of inhumanity.  ~  George Bernard Shaw

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 Alva Edison

I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.    ~ Abraham Lincoln

Murderers very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids.  ~  Robert K. Ressler, FBI Serial Killer Profiler

Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.     ~ Arthur Schopenhauer, German Philosopher

We have enslaved the rest of animal creation and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.        ~  William Ralph Inge, British Author

Most people have forgotten how to live with living creatures, with living systems and that, in turn, is the reason why man, whenever he comes into contact with nature, threatens to kill the natural system in which and from which he lives.     ~  Konrad Lorenz, Naturalist

For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.   ~  Pythagoras, Pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher

 I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.  (Reply to friends who chided him for delaying them by stopping to return a fledgling to its nest.)     ~  Abraham Lincoln,  Sixteenth President of the United States

Atrocities are no less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research.     ~  George Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright and Critic

Show me the enforced laws of a state for the prevention of cruelty to animals and I in turn will give you a correct estimate of the refinement, enlightenment, integrity and equity of that commonwealth's people.   ~  L.T. Danshiell, Animal Rights Advocate

The awful wrongs and sufferings forced upon the innocent, helpless, faithful animal race form the blackest chapter in the whole world's history.   ~  Edward Freeman, English Historian and Commentator

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, German Philosopher

As custodians of the planet it is our responsibility to deal with all species with kindness, love, and compassion. That these animals suffer through human cruelty is beyond understanding. Please help to stop this madness.    ~  Richard Gere, American Actor        

All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.    ~    Samuel Butler, British Author, Painter, Photographer, and Art Critic

Ever occur to you why some of us can be this much concerned with animals suffering? Because government is not. Why not? Animals don't vote.     ~  Paul Harvey, American Radio Commentator

When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.     ~   Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, Indian founder of Buddhism Religion and Philosophy

Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives.               ~  Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian Theologian, Musician, and Medical Missionary

To inflict cruelties on defenceless creatures, or condone such acts, is to abuse one of the cardinal tenets of a civilised society - reverence for life.    ~  Dr. Jon Evans, England

The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life.   ~  Albert Einstein,  Theoretical Physicist 

It seems to me of great importance to teach children respect for life. Towards this end, experiments on living animals in classrooms should be stopped. To encourage cruelty in the name of science can only destroy the finer emotions of affection and sympathy, and breed an unfeeling callousness in the young towards suffering in all living creatures.     ~  Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the United States of America

It is not just that animals make the world more scenic or picturesque. The lives of animals are woven into our very being - closer than our own breathing - and our souls will suffer when they are gone.       ~  Gary Kowalski, Author of "The Souls of Animals"

If a man aspires toward a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.     ~  Count Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist and Philosopher

Our treatment of animals will someday be considered barbarous. There cannot be perfect civilization until man realizes that the rights of every living creature are as sacred as his own.     ~  Dr. David Starr Jordan,  American Biologist and Educator

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.      ~ Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" ('Great Soul') Gandhi

 THE SPEECHLESS ANIMAL  ~  by Kahlil Gibran, read by ROSKO: