“Empathy, he once had decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Because, ultimately, the empathic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated.”

— Philip K. Dick , book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Source: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Empathy, he once had decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Beca…" by Philip K. Dick?

Philip K. Dick 278

American author 1928–1982

Related quotes

“Although most of us conduct our lives as omnivores, in that we eat flesh as well as vegetables and fruits, human beings have characteristics of herbivores, not carnivores. The appendages of carnivores are claws; those of herbivores are hands or hooves. The teeth of carnivores are sharp; those of herbivores are mainly flat (for grinding). The intestinal tract of carnivores is short (3 times body length); that of herbivores, long (12 times body length). Body cooling of carnivores is done by panting; herbivores, by sweating. Carnivores drink fluids by lapping; herbivores, by sipping. Carnivores produce their own vitamin C, whereas herbivores obtain it from their diet. Thus, humans have characteristics of herbivores, not carnivores.”

William C. Roberts (1932) American physician

Twenty questions on atherosclerosis

“Of course, art turns many people away for there has to be a limit. The limits between the gifted and the ungifted.”

Elfriede Jelinek book The Piano Teacher

P 27
The Piano Teacher (1988)

“And where is the boundary-if there is a boundary-between a collective outlook and "the world"?. Many cultures assume such a boundary, but they set it in different places. Divine appearances once were real- they are mere fantasies today. Where shall we, who examine the phenomenon, set the boundary?”

Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) Austrian-born philosopher of science

pg 27.
Conquest of Abundance (2001 [posthumous])

“Elegance is not a dispensable luxury but a quality that decides between success and failure.”

Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) Dutch computer scientist

1990s

“You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit”

Edward Said (1935–2003) Professor of English and literature

“I decided to give up meat and fish for ethical reasons. And a vegetarian diet is very healthy for all ages.”

Kim Sharma (1980) Indian actress

"Kim Sharma: New vegan on the block" https://web.archive.org/web/20140113154535/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-12/news-interviews/28205180_1_vegetarian-diet-kim-sharma-bollywood-stars, The Times of India (12 August 2009).

“Shakespeare, far from being careless about grammar, could depart from it in any direction only because he had first mastered it as a structure.”

Clive James (1939–2019) Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator and memoirist

Pedro Henríquez Ureña, p. 777
Essays and reviews, Cultural Amnesia: Notes in the Margin of My Time (2007)
Context: There is a consoling mythology, constantly being added to, which would have us believe that genius operates beyond donkey work. Thus we are told reassuringly that Einstein was no better at arithmetic than we are; that Mozart gaily broke the rules of composition while jotting down a stream of black dots without even looking; and that Shakespeare didn't care about grammar. Superficially, there are facts to lend substance to these illusions. But illusions they remain. There is always some autistic child in India who can speak in prime numbers, but that doesn't mean Einstein couldn't add up; Mozart would not have been able to break the rules in an interesting way unless he was able to keep them if required; and Shakespeare, far from being careless about grammar, could depart from it in any direction only because he had first mastered it as a structure.