---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What kind of world would we create if…"
description: "\"What kind of world would we create if three times a day we activated our compassion and reason as we sat down to eat, if we had the moral imagination a..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_compassion_what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-th_2545985.png"
---

#  What kind of world would we create if three times a day we…

![“What kind of world would we create if three times a day we activated our compassion and reason as we sat down to eat, if we had the moral imagination and the pragmatic will to change our most fundamental act of consumption?” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_compassion_what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-th_2545985.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_compassion_what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-th_2545985.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_compassion_what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-th_2545985.png)

> “What kind of world would we create if three times a day we activated our compassion and reason as we sat down to eat, if we had the moral imagination and the pragmatic will to change our most fundamental act of consumption?”

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Regularly combining compassion and reason at meals could reshape our consumption habits and moral outlook.

**In simple terms:** Think kindly and logically when you eat.

Key Takeaway

Integrate empathy and rationality into daily eating.

Themes

ethics consumption compassion

Mood

thoughtful inspirational

Type

philosophical ethical

When to use this quote

- family dinners
- restaurant menus
- policy discussions
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

moral imagination pragmatic will food choices

Questions to Reflect On

- How would you redesign a meal to reflect compassion?
- What rational arguments support ethical eating?

A Different Perspective

Changing deep habits is difficult and may meet resistance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Activated Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activated-compassion-1476561/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Compassion Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion-reason-1476562/) [Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption/) [Eat Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eat-moral-1188074/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Fundamentals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentals/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Pragmatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-pragmatic-1476560/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-imagination-1476559/) [Pragmatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pragmatic/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Sat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sat/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Three times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three-times/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [We must have an economy that does not force the migrant worker's child to miss school in order to earn...just so the family can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-jordan/we-must-have-an-economy-that-does-not-force-the-migrant-worker-s/)

[Barbara Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-jordan/)

> [The danger of a closed mind is that it can also leave good things like love, compassion and reason on its outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lennox-lewis/the-danger-of-a-closed-mind-is-that-it-can-also-leave-good-things/)

[Lennox Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lennox-lewis/)

> [The foundation of the Buddha's teachings lies in compassion, and the reason for practicing the teachings is to wipe out the persistence of ego,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-foundation-of-the-buddha-s-teachings-lies-in-compassion-and-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [All people are endowed with the faculty of compassion, and for this reason can develop the humanitarian spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/all-people-are-endowed-with-the-faculty-of-compassion-and-for-this/)

[Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/)

> [When people ask me what's really important about my father, I think the most important thing about him was his moral imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/when-people-ask-me-what-s-really-important-about-my-father-i-think/)

[Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/)

> [An exercise of moral imagination helps companies further goals of its members.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-malloch/an-exercise-of-moral-imagination-helps-companies-further-goals-of-its/)

[Ted Malloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-malloch/)

> [“The readers of Isabel's journal were affected by the conversations within its covers-if nothing else, the livingroom of their moral imagination became bigger. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/the-readers-of-isabel-s-journal-were-affected-by-the-conversations/)

[Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/)

> [“Burke was not a sentimentalist, however.43 “Leave a man to his passions,” he wrote, “and you leave a wild beast to a savage and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-levin/burke-was-not-a-sentimentalist-however-43-leave-a-man-to-his-passions/)

[Yuval Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-levin/)

> [I've taken on impossible fights before and won and I've done it not by taking on the tactics and techniques of demagogues and bullies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-booker/i-ve-taken-on-impossible-fights-before-and-won-and-i-ve-done-it-not/)

[Cory Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-booker/)

> [Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/our-world-faces-a-true-planetary-emergency-i-know-the-phrase-sounds/)

[Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/)

> [It is not the business of science to inherit the earth, but to inherit the moral imagination; because without that, man and beliefs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/it-is-not-the-business-of-science-to-inherit-the-earth-but-to-inherit/)

[Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/)

> [War, except in self-defense, is a failure of moral imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/war-except-in-self-defense-is-a-failure-of-moral-imagination/)

[Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/)

> [It's through the small things that we develop our moral imagination, so that we can understand the sufferings of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/it-s-through-the-small-things-that-we-develop-our-moral-imagination/)

[Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/)

> [Germany will continue to play a central - perhaps even a more important - role in the European Union. I think that we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-juncker/germany-will-continue-to-play-a-central-perhaps-even-a-more-important/)

[Jean-Claude Juncker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-juncker/)

> [“Pragmatic Programmers are different. We are driven to find our bugs now, so we don't have to endure the shame of others finding our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-hunt/pragmatic-programmers-are-different-we-are-driven-to-find-our-bugs/)

[Andrew Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-hunt/)

## More by Jonathan Safran Foer

> [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

[Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

## More Compassion quotes

> [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/)

[Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/)

> [“I fight with love and kindness as my weapons and compassion as my defense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/i-fight-with-love-and-kindness-as-my-weapons-and-compassion-as-my/)

[Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/)

> [I really enjoy making people laugh; I've discovered that's a great technique. That's as powerful as stirring their sorrow, stirring their compassion, because that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-really-enjoy-making-people-laugh-i-ve-discovered-that-s-a-great/)

[Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/)

> [“If you refuse to use physical force, then you will be at the mercy of your oppressor!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/segun-magbagbeola/if-you-refuse-to-use-physical-force-then-you-will-be-at-the-mercy-of/)

[Segun Magbagbeola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/segun-magbagbeola/)

> [For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/for-some-reason-we-are-truly-convinced-that-if-we-criticize-ourselves/)

[Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/)

> [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/)

[R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/)

> [“Helpers in every corner, helpers in every hood. That's how we'll make the move, to reform from rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/helpers-in-every-corner-helpers-in-every-hood-that-s-how-we-ll-make/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [May the gods have mercy on whoever pisses them off, because Zarek and Jericho will have none for them. (Madoc) You’d better be glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/may-the-gods-have-mercy-on-whoever-pisses-them-off-because-zarek-and/)

[Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/)

> [When you need empathy, you cannot give empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/when-you-need-empathy-you-cannot-give-empathy/)

[Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/)

> [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/)

[Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/)

> [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/)

[Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/)

> [“la ilaha ilallah muhammadun rasulullah, alaihi salatullah wa alihi wal ahibba "shine your mercy like the sun, and be gracious as the earth let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-al-habib/la-ilaha-ilallah-muhammadun-rasulullah-alaihi-salatullah-wa-alihi-wal/)

[Talib al Habib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-al-habib/)

> [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

[Browse all 9,892 Compassion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "What kind of world would we create if three times a day we activated our compassion and reason as we sat down to eat, if we had the moral imagination and the pragmatic will to change our most fundamental act of consumption?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-three-times-a-day-we-activated/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Compassion"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-three-times-a-day-we-activated/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_compassion_what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-th_2545985.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_compassion_what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-th_2545985.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_compassion_what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-th_2545985.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“What kind of world would we create if three times a day we activated our compassion and reason as we sat…” — Jonathan Safran Foer",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "What kind of world would we...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-three-times-a-day-we-activated/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/what-kind-of-world-would-we-create-if-three-times-a-day-we-activated/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
