"Although I have been prevented by outward circumstances from observing a strictly vegetarian diet, I have long been an adherent to the cause in principle. Besides agreeing with the aims of vegetarianism for aesthetic and moral reasons, it is my view that a vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind."

- Albert Einstein

1879-1955. German-born American theoretical physicist whose special and general theories of relativity revolutionized modern thought on the nature of space and time and formed a theoretical base for the exploitation of atomic energy. He won a 1921 Nobel Prize for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.

"I have from an early age abjured the use of meat and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."

- Leonardo Da Vinci

1452-1519. Italian painter, engineer, musician, and scientist. The most versatile genius of the Renaissance, Leonardo filled notebooks with engineering and scientific observations that were in some cases centuries ahead of their time. As a painter Leonardo is best known for The Last Supper (c. 1495) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503).

"I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry and unhappy like we (humans) do."

Cesar Chavez

"If we so easily take the lives of animals who are only a few evolutionary steps from us, what is to prevent us from doing the same to humans."

Pete Singer

"I believe that every man who has ever been earnest to preserve his highest poetic faculties in the best condition has been particularly inclined to abstain from animal food...no doubt that it is part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals."

Henry David Thoreau

1817-1862. American writer. A seminal figure in the history of American thought, he spent much of his life in Concord, Massachusetts, where he became associated with the New England transcendentalists and lived for two years on the shore of Walden Pond (1845-1847). His works include "Civil Disobedience" (1849) and Walden (1854).

"My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency and I was frequently chid for my singularity."

Ben Franklin

"He who does not value life does not deserve it."

Leonardo Da Vinci

"A high animal protein diet, especially an excess of meat, is definitely detrimental to the health and may be a contribution or a direct cause of the development of many of our most common diseases, as shown by recent massive research...The metabolism of proteins consumed in excess of the actual need leaves toxic residues of metabolic wastes in tissues, causes autotoxemia, overacidity, and nutritional deficiencies, accumulation of uric acid and purines in the tissues and intestinal putrefaction, and contributes to the development of many of our most common and serious diseases, such as arthritis, kidney damage, schizophrenia, osteoporosis, artherosclerosis, heart disease and cancer. A high protein diet also causes premature aging and lowers life expectancy."

Dr. Paavo Airola, N.D.

"Our nation now feeds about 3.5 billion food animals yearly, and 70 to 80% of these animals receive drugs in their feed. In addition to adding drugs to feed, science now has given us implantable drugs, removable drugs, and time-release drugs for animals..."

Alexander M. Schmidt, M.D.
Commissioner of Food & Drugs
Senate Subcommittee Hearing, 1975

"I fancy it must be the quantity of animal food eaten by the English which renders their character insusceptible to civilization. I suspect it is in their kitchens and not in their churches that the reformation must be worked."

Thomas Jefferson

1743-1826. The third President of the United States (1801-1809). A member of the second Continental Congress, he drafted the Declaration of Independence (1776). His presidency was marked by the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France (1803) and the Tripolitan War (1801-1805). A political philosopher, educator, and architect, Jefferson designed his own estate, Monticello, and buildings for the University of Virginia.

"The inhabitants of Ecuador and the primitive Hunzas in India are either complete or almost complete vegetarians...they eat a diet which is high in carbohydrates and low in protein and their strength is phenomenal."

Dr. Paazo Airola, N.D.

"I don't like the idea of killing my fellow creatures in order to eat their dead bodies."

George Bernard Shaw

1856-1950. Irish-born British playwright. A founder of the Fabian Society, he wrote plays of iconoclastic social criticism, including Arms and the Man (1894), Pygmalion (1913), and Saint Joan (1923). He won the 1925 Nobel Prize for literature.

"For I tell you truly, he who kills, kills himself, and whosoever eats the flesh of slain beasts eats the body of death."

Jesus Christ
The Essene Gospel of Peace
(taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls)

"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."

Mahatma Ghandi

"It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth...or is made weak."

Romans 14:21

"Do not make your stomachs graves for animals."

Mohammed

"He who causes suffering shall suffer. There is no escape."

Buddha

"Purity of heart...self-restraint...harmlessness...freedom from a desire to injure others...(these) are his who is born to godlike endowments."

Krishna
Bhagavad-Gita 16:1

"And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.'

Genesis 1:29

"The moral evils of a flesh diet are not less marked than are the physical ills. Flesh food is injurious to health and whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and soul."

Ellen G. White

"Some people miss flesh as a drunkard misses his dram..."

John Muir

1838-1914 British-born American naturalist who promoted the creation of national parks and reservations.

"Food shortage will be to the 1990's what oil shortage was to the 1970's..."

Armand Hammer

"Meat is not essential for endurance. This has been demonstrated by whole races (of people)..."

Dr. E. V. McCollum
Prof., John Hopkins Univ.
(father of Vitamins A & D)

"It is most unlikely that a protein deficiency will result in apparently healthy adults (who are) on a diet in which cereals and vegetables supply enough calories."

Mark Hegsted
Chief Administrator
Human Nutrition Center

"All wholesome food is caught without a net or trap."

William Blake