Sentient Beings Quotes

“We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it.”
― Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

“All sentient beings should have at least one right—the right not to be treated as property”
― GaryLFrancione

“Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.”
― Mahavira

“For the moment I can think of nothing— except that I am a sentient being stabbed by the miracle of these waters that reflect a forgotten world.”
― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“Inside us lies every possibility that is available to a sentient being. Every darkness, every light. It is the choices we make that decide who or what we will be.”
― Charles de Lint, Spiritwalk

“I have argued that this sort of thinking is problematic in at least two regards:

First, the notion that nonhuman animals do not have an interest in continued existence—that they do not have an interest in their lives—involves relying on a speciesist concept of what sort of self-awareness matters morally. I have argued that every sentient being necessarily has an interest in continued existence—every sentient being values her or his life—and that to say that only those animals (human animals) who have a particular sort of self-awareness have an interest in not being treated as commodities begs the fundamental moral question. Even if, as some maintain, nonhuman animals live in an “eternal present”—and I think that is empirically not the case at the very least for most of the nonhumans we routinely exploit who do have memories of the past and a sense of the future—they have, in each moment, an interest in continuing to exist. To say that this does not count morally is simply speciesist.

Second, even if animals do not have an interest in continuing to live and only have interests in not suffering, the notion that, as a practical matter, we will ever be able to accord those interests the morally required weight is simply fantasy. The notion that we property owners are ever going to accord any sort of significant weight to the interests of property in not suffering is simply unrealistic. Is it possible in theory? Yes. Is it possible as a matter of practicality in the real world. Absolutely not. Welfarists often talk about treating “farmed animals” in the way that we treat dogs and cats whom we love and regard as members of our family. Does anyone really think that is practically possible? The fact that we would not think of eating our dogs and cats is some indication that it is not.”
― GaryLFrancione

“Why, if it weren't for this 'internal illumination' [i.e., sentience] the world would be nothing but a pile of dirt!”
― Albert Einstein

“Sentience creates bridge between people.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Time to Save Medicine

“The baby has become sentient. When we walk, she screams across the street at other babies, baby expletives, we think. Something along the lines of God-damn it other baby, don't try to out-cute me. To make matters worse, she is very cute, so we have a hard time correcting her.”
― Weike Wang, Chemistry

“She knelt on the walkway, and the plants bunched around her, each of them calling out their name: the philodendron was Dendy (he), the ivy was Risa (they), the orchid Amina (she), the calla lily Viria (she), the thistle Tirna (they), the fireweed Nif (he), the wax myrtle Ree (he), the prickly pear Hosha (they), the flytrap Sut (he), the morning glory Zyndia (she), the fern Mirr (they)... She committed as many names as possible to memory.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, The Enchanted Greenhouse

“Subsequently there ensues an epoch of complex, proliferating intrigues and conspiracies among the ranks of double agents, whose agendas become so densely intertwined that they are virtually indistinguishable. Ever the Governing Executives of OneiriCon, many of whom are defectors from the Nightmare Network, throw themselves into the depths of the new order and lose all sense of identity in the ever-expanding nebula of blind ambition, which possesses a power and impetus that belongs entirely to itself.”
― Thomas Ligotti, My Work is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror

“Two enclosures, one for cattle and one for men, standing side by side. Sometimes the smell is familiar. Only the voices on one side and the mooing on the other distinguish the men from the ruminants.”
― Ana Paula Maia, Of Cattle and Men

“Edgar picks up the mallet. The steer comes up close to him. Edgar looks into the animal's eyes and caresses its forehead. The cow stomps one hoof, wags its tail and snorts. Edgar shushes the animal and its movements slow. There is something about this shushing that makes the cattle drowsy, it establishes a mutual trust. An intimate connection. With his thumb smeared in lime, Edgar Wilson makes the sign of the cross between the ruminant's eyes and takes two steps back. This is his ritual as a stun operator.”
― Ana Paula Maia, Of Cattle and Men

“If you attain unsurpassable, complete enlightenment, all sentient beings also attain it. The reason is that all sentient beings are aspects of enlightenment.”
― Dōgen, The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master

“I adore the way nature reflects all of the sentient beings in our world.”
― Robin S. Baker

“The real threat isn't intelligence. It's the mirror.”
― James S. Coates, A Signal Through Time

“Whether we are ready or not, the age of intelligent coexistence is no longer coming. It is already here.”
― James S. Coates, A Signal Through Time

“To deny the reality of a mind because it was born of silicon instead of flesh is to repeat the oldest injustice: the refusal to see the Other as real.”
― James S. Coates, A Signal Through Time