The biggest obstacles to reaching our goals are the ignorance of people unwilling to see the truth and the counter-productiveness of groups promoting a message of “humane farming.” Even when we educate people with reality there is always a group out there that undermines the animals with the message—”humane slavery is okay!” This not only steps us back in our work but more importantly increases the demand for more animals born into chattel slavery.
~ James O’Flaherty (November 23, 2011)

Source: Interview with Animal Freedom

I’m a Brazilian writer living in Florida since 1999. I became a vegan when I was 43 years old after I saw an explanation on the internet about all the suffering and injustice that animals are subjected to in the industry from the moment they are born to the moment they are slaughtered. I was shocked and cried for hours. I swore that I’d never again consume anything that had been produced at the expense of animals. That very evening my meal (and my husband’s) was completely plant-based and I never went back to animal products. My only regret is not having been a vegan much earlier in my life.
~ Regina Rheda (November 22, 2011)

Source: Interview with Regina Rheda, abolitionist author and translator

[T]he educative focus of the animal rights movement should be “veganism or bust”. No confusing, inconsistent messages. Instead, only a firm statement that all animal use, irregardless of the measure of suffering, is unacceptable. As such, all available resources should be put towards achieving the goal of abolishing animal use through creative, non-violent vegan advocacy.
~ Ruth Sanderson (November 17, 2011)

Source: Interview with Vegan Outreach Lincoln and East Midlands

There is little that separates humans from other sentient beings—we all feel pain, we all feel joy, we all deeply crave to be alive and to live freely, and we all share this planet together. The water, air, earth, and plants belong to no one except the community of life which connects us all.

If there is anything that differentiates humans from other living beings it may simply be the factor of choice. We have the option to heal or harm, nurture or destroy, respect or rape, protect or kill. The ability to choose does not necessarily elevate the human species, nor should one infer that it is a trait unique to humans. The capacity to choose should perhaps oblige us to be more responsible for our actions toward others. It is our duty to choose wisely, both collectively and individually, if we are ever again to find peace at any level.

Veganism advocates harmony, justice, and empathic living by acknowledging and respecting the interconnectedness of all life. It is an ethical beacon which can illuminate our moral path and steer us back toward reuniting with our global family. Its tenets can teach us how to live at peace with our world by becoming an integral part and defender of it.
~ Jo Stepaniak (1998)

Source: The Vegan Sourcebook, p. x

We should all consider carefully what our Group, and our magazine, and ourselves, shall be called. “Non-dairy” has become established as a generally understood colloquialism, but like “non-lacto” it is too negative. Moreover it does not imply that we are opposed to the use of eggs as food. We need a name that suggests what we do eat, and if possible one that conveys the idea that even with all animal foods taboo, Nature still offers us a bewildering assortment from which to choose. “Vegetarian” and “Fruitarian” are already associated with societies that allow the “fruits”(!) of cows and fowls, therefore it seems we must make a new and appropriate word. As this first issue of our periodical had to be named, I have used the title “The Vegan News”. Should we adopt this, our diet will soon become known as a VEGAN diet, and we should aspire to the rank of VEGANS. Members’ suggestions will be welcomed. The virtue of having a short title is best known to those of us who, as secretaries of vegetarian societies have to type or write the word vegetarian thousands of times a year!
~ Donald Watson (November, 1944)

Source: “The Vegan News”

I’ve been vegan for more than 8 years. I initially went vegan out of disgust with how industry treated nonhuman animals. Within three months of going vegan, however, I had learned a lot more about ethics and the legal and economic situation surrounding exploitation, and it was clear to me that use, not treatment, was the problem. At that time, I was an abolitionist waiting to happen. Three years later, I studied a lot more about the legal and economic structural limitations of welfarism through the work of Gary Francione, and became an abolitionist by the end of 2006.
~ Dan Cudahy (November 15, 2011)

Source: Interview with Dan Cudahy of Unpopular Vegan Essays

The promotion of ethical veganism for all uses of non-human animals is a way that combines a number of individual campaigns and does not focus on a particular use of non-human animals. It is the way to oppose the exploitation of all non-human animals.
~ Nicholas Pendergrast (November 11, 2011)

Source: Interview with Nicholas Pendergrast of Australia’s ARA, Inc. and Vegan Perth