--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I turned to human suffering because…" description: "\"I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.\" — Rigoberto Gonzalez" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/rigoberto-gonzalez-29636_animal_i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this_3125872.jpg" --- # I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd… ![“I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.” quote by Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/rigoberto-gonzalez-29636_animal_i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this_3125872.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/rigoberto-gonzalez-29636_animal_i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this_3125872.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/rigoberto-gonzalez-29636_animal_i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this_3125872.jpg) > “I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.” [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker prefers confronting human suffering over animal suffering because the former feels more relatable and manageable. **In simple terms:** Human pain feels easier to handle than animal pain. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address personal biases in empathy. Themes empathy ethics psychology Mood reflective concerned Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - activism - animal rights debates - personal reflection Key Concepts moral psychology cognitive dissonance Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide which suffering to prioritize? - What factors make animal suffering harder to confront? A Different Perspective Human suffering may be more visible, but ignoring animal suffering limits moral scope. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animal suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal-suffering/) [Human suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-suffering/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“Suffering, though, can be nothing more than a sad and sorry thing without the presence on the part of the sufferer of a graceful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis/suffering-though-can-be-nothing-more-than-a-sad-and-sorry-thing/) [John Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis/) > [“Of course the children had exchanged labels with one another the second her back was turned. They were only human, even if they hadn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/of-course-the-children-had-exchanged-labels-with-one-another-the/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [Human suffering is articulated in language; communication is how we seek help, consolation, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/human-suffering-is-articulated-in-language-communication-is-how-we/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [People must have renounced, it seems to me, all natural intelligence to dare to advance that animals are but animated machines… It appears to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/people-must-have-renounced-it-seems-to-me-all-natural-intelligence-to/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Let's just call things what they are. When a man's love of finery clouds his moral judgment, that is vanity. When he lets a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-scully/let-s-just-call-things-what-they-are-when-a-man-s-love-of-finery/) [Matthew Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-scully/) > [I wish no living thing to suffer pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-wish-no-living-thing-to-suffer-pain/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [If we are ever to halt climate change and conserve land, water and other resources, not to mention reduce animal suffering, we must celebrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/if-we-are-ever-to-halt-climate-change-and-conserve-land-water-and/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [If you are interested in preventing animal suffering, the first thing you should give up is eggs and milk because the animals who produce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/if-you-are-interested-in-preventing-animal-suffering-the-first-thing/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“I take it hard when an animal in my care suffers or dies. 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Obviously not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/whether-we-re-talking-about-fish-species-pigs-or-some-other-eaten/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“When a man’s love of finery clouds his moral judgment, that is vanity. 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They will eventually find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-never-try-to-force-poems-into-a-collection-simply-because-they-were/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [Publishers have in-house editors, but I hire my own before I submit the work to publishers. They appreciate it and I feel more confident…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/publishers-have-in-house-editors-but-i-hire-my-own-before-i-submit/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [I tend to overuse the word "project" only because "book" is terrifying while I'm still in the middle of something. A project can fail.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-tend-to-overuse-the-word-project-only-because-book-is-terrifying/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [“I look through the window at the huge valley lit up with different colors. The town is cradled by the dark mountains. From afar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-look-through-the-window-at-the-huge-valley-lit-up-with-different/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [“Funerals in México are also about drowning sorrow with liquor. The coffee is spiked with tequila”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/funerals-in-m-xico-are-also-about-drowning-sorrow-with-liquor-the/) [Rigoberto González](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [I always revise when I publish in a book. So versions in magazines are sometimes slightly different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-always-revise-when-i-publish-in-a-book-so-versions-in-magazines-are/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [I enjoy working on a number of projects - books - at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-enjoy-working-on-a-number-of-projects-books-at-once/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [One of the things I'm constantly telling my students is that they're never going to write a poem everyone gets, or if they do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/one-of-the-things-i-m-constantly-telling-my-students-is-that-they-re/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [“What's a kiss? The sound loneliness makes when it dies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/what-s-a-kiss-the-sound-loneliness-makes-when-it-dies/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [I like to move around in the landscape between poetry and prose, between the lyrical and the narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-like-to-move-around-in-the-landscape-between-poetry-and-prose/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [I figure I write for people who are intelligent enough to do some labor. Lazy readers are not my ideal readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-figure-i-write-for-people-who-are-intelligent-enough-to-do-some/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [I pay editors. I never ask friends or colleagues to work for free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-pay-editors-i-never-ask-friends-or-colleagues-to-work-for-free/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [Human suffering is articulated in language; communication is how we seek help, consolation, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/human-suffering-is-articulated-in-language-communication-is-how-we/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [“Unlike my dead lover, I refuse to/ choose the day I shock the world. There's no/ mystery left in suicide. The challenge is, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/unlike-my-dead-lover-i-refuse-to-choose-the-day-i-shock-the-world/) [Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) > [“My four years of high school were spent locked up inside “el campo.” I became a voracious reader and television-watcher, keeping to myself at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/my-four-years-of-high-school-were-spent-locked-up-inside-el-campo-i/) [Rigoberto González](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) [Explore all 18 Rigoberto Gonzalez quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/) ## 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. 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The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. 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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": "I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rigoberto Gonzalez" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this-may-sound-odd-animal/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this-may-sound-odd-animal/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/rigoberto-gonzalez-29636_animal_i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this_3125872.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/rigoberto-gonzalez-29636_animal_i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this_3125872.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/rigoberto-gonzalez-29636_animal_i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this_3125872.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal…” — Rigoberto Gonzalez", "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": "Rigoberto Gonzalez", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I turned to human suffering because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this-may-sound-odd-animal/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/i-turned-to-human-suffering-because-this-may-sound-odd-animal/#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 } } ] } ```