Quote#Pain
Much as animals suffer in a natural state, much more do they seem to…
Quote byLewis Gompertz · 1783–1861
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Fragments in Defence of Animals, and Essays on Morals, Soul, and Future State (1852), The System of Nature and Duty of Man to Animals, p. 18.
English (original)
Much as animals suffer in a natural state, much more do they seem to suffer when under the dominion of the generality of men. What suffering in the former can be supposed to equal the constant torture of a hackney-coach horse?
— Lewis Gompertz
More from Lewis Gompertz
Axiom 5. That we should never admit of the propriety of the will or volition of one animal being the agent of another, unless we should perceive its own good to result from it, or that justice should require it.
Axiom 8. That the importance of any action is measured by the degree of pleasure or pain that it causes or prevents.
[H]owever the state of man may be above that of other animals, if the superiority be owing to his being differently situated, we must not dazzle ourselves by gazing on the brilliancy of the situation, but learn how to estimate their true …
[T]his seems to be still the age of infancy, and baby-like do we cry. This is all made for me! The land and the ocean abound with myriads of animated beings of admirable construction only for me to play with, to torment, and to destroy. …
[W]e should never admit of the propriety of the will or volition of one animal being the agent of another, unless we should perceive its own good to result from it, or that justice should require it.
First, how do you prove that mankind is invested with the right of killing them, and that brutes have been created for the purpose you assert them to be? Secondly, it is to be observed that the flesh of man himself possesses the same …