--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It may be suggested by some books that it…" description: "\"It may be suggested by some books that it is not a sin to kill an animal, but it is written in our own hearts - more clearly than in any book - that we..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-i_1314957.png" --- # It may be suggested by some books that it is not a sin to… ![“It may be suggested by some books that it is not a sin to kill an animal, but it is written in our own hearts - more clearly than in any book - that we should take pity on animals in the same way as we do on humans.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-i_1314957.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-i_1314957.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-i_1314957.png) > “It may be suggested by some books that it is not a sin to kill an animal, but it is written in our own hearts - more clearly than in any book - that we should take pity on animals in the same way as we do on humans.” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Innate compassion compels humans to extend empathy to animals, surpassing doctrinal teachings. **In simple terms:** Human hearts naturally feel pity for animals. Key Takeaway Act on innate empathy toward all beings. Themes ethics compassion animal rights human nature Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - dietary choices - animal welfare activism - education - legislation Key Concepts moral philosophy sentience Questions to Reflect On - How can societies nurture natural compassion for animals? - What conflicts arise between tradition and innate empathy? A Different Perspective Cultural norms may suppress innate empathy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) ## Related quotes > [The deeper minds of all ages have had pity for animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-deeper-minds-of-all-ages-have-had-pity-for-animals/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Everywhere there was somewhere and everywhere there they were men women children dogs cows wild pigs little rabbits cats lizards and animals. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/everywhere-there-was-somewhere-and-everywhere-there-they-were-men/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“similarity is animals' way of living in harmony”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-m-alusi/similarity-is-animals-way-of-living-in-harmony/) [A.M.M Alusi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-m-alusi/) > [Animals have this way of constantly confronting us with ultimate questions - about truth and falsehood, guilt and innocence, God and sanctity and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-scully/animals-have-this-way-of-constantly-confronting-us-with-ultimate/) [Matthew Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-scully/) > [No animal shall kill any other animal WITHOUT CAUSE.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/no-animal-shall-kill-any-other-animal-without-cause/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [A Scout/Guide should save animals as far as possible from pain, and should not kill any animal unnecessarily, not even the smallest of God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-baden-powell/a-scout-guide-should-save-animals-as-far-as-possible-from-pain-and/) [Lord Baden Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-baden-powell/) > [A man can have sex with animals such as sheeps, cows, camels and so on. However, he should kill the animal after he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayatollah-khomeini/a-man-can-have-sex-with-animals-such-as-sheeps-cows-camels-and-so-on/) [Ayatollah Khomeini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayatollah-khomeini/) > [If you're going to kill the animal it seems only polite to use the whole thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/if-you-re-going-to-kill-the-animal-it-seems-only-polite-to-use-the/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [I just don't have the desire no more, I don't have the stomach to do it no more. I don't even kill insects in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-just-don-t-have-the-desire-no-more-i-don-t-have-the-stomach-to-do/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [You don't have to wear fur. They make such great fakes. There's no reason to kill an animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-slick/you-don-t-have-to-wear-fur-they-make-such-great-fakes-there-s-no/) [Grace Slick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-slick/) > [I don't shoot anything. I could never kill an animal. My dad does all the hunting, and he eats everything that he kills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-heard/i-don-t-shoot-anything-i-could-never-kill-an-animal-my-dad-does-all/) [Amber Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-heard/) > [It does not demean men to want to be what they imagine the wolf to be, but it does demean them to kill the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-does-not-demean-men-to-want-to-be-what-they-imagine-the-wolf-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I nearly kill the animal... You can't possibly eat 'nearly' inside the soup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agbessi-charles/i-nearly-kill-the-animal-you-can-t-possibly-eat-nearly-inside-the-soup/) [Agbessi Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agbessi-charles/) > [It is said about Lord Buddha sadaya-hrdaya darsita-pasu-ghatam. He saw the whole human race going to hell by this animal killing. So he appeared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/it-is-said-about-lord-buddha-sadaya-hrdaya-darsita-pasu-ghatam-he-saw/) [A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/) > [I don't think a living being should suffer for the sake of fashion, period. End of story. You don't have to kill an animal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taraji-p-henson/i-don-t-think-a-living-being-should-suffer-for-the-sake-of-fashion/) [Taraji P. Henson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taraji-p-henson/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [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/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It may be suggested by some books that it is not a sin to kill an animal, but it is written in our own hearts - more clearly than in any book - that we should take pity on animals in the same way as we do on humans.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-it-is-not-a-sin-to-kill-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-it-is-not-a-sin-to-kill-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-i_1314957.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-i_1314957.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/leo-tolstoy-55_animal_it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-i_1314957.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It may be suggested by some books that it is not a sin to kill an animal, but it is written in our own…” — Leo Tolstoy", "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": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It may be suggested by some...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-it-is-not-a-sin-to-kill-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-may-be-suggested-by-some-books-that-it-is-not-a-sin-to-kill-an/#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 } } ] } ```