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“O God, grant us a deeper sense of fellowship with all living things, our little brothers and sisters to whom in common with us you have given this earth as home. We recall with regret that in the past we have acted high-handedly and cruelly in exercising our domain over them. Thus, the voice of the earth which should have risen to you in song has turned into a groan of travail. May we realize that all these creatures also live for themselves and for you - not for us alone. They too love the goodness of life, as we do, and serve you better in their way than we do in ours. Amen.” —St. Basil the Great
“Tears are the eternal right of grief. And there is so much grief on earth that every joy is shrouded in sorrow. And no one causes people so much pain as we do to each other. Among animals there are predators and herbivores. Some pursue others. And so it is among people. Some offend, others suffer. What to choose? To offend others or to endure insults? Without a doubt, it is more profitable, easier, and more convenient to live without a heart and conscience. A person without a heart and conscience is not bound by anything. But for God, he is a stranger. He cannot be a Christian. A Christian must follow the path that Christ walked.” —Protopresbyter Pavel Adelgeim
“We follow the ways of wolves, the habits of tigers: or, rather we are worse than they. To them nature has assigned that they should be thus fed, while God has honoured us with rational speech and a sense of equity. And yet we are become worse than the wild beast.” —St. John Chrysostom
