--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was all so very businesslike that one…" description: "\"It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was pork-making by machinery, pork-making by applied mathematics. And yet somehow th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/upton-sinclair-4341_apology_it-was-all-so-very-businesslike-that-one_1698650.jpg" --- # It was all so very businesslike that one watched it… ![“It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was pork-making by machinery, pork-making by applied mathematics. And yet somehow the most matter-of-fact person could not help thinking of the hogs; they were so innocent, they came so very trustingly; and they were so very human…” quote by Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/upton-sinclair-4341_apology_it-was-all-so-very-businesslike-that-one_1698650.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/upton-sinclair-4341_apology_it-was-all-so-very-businesslike-that-one_1698650.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e69/upton-sinclair-4341_apology_it-was-all-so-very-businesslike-that-one_1698650.jpg) > “It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was pork-making by machinery, pork-making by applied mathematics. And yet somehow the most matter-of-fact person could not help thinking of the hogs; they were so innocent, they came so very trustingly; and they were so very human in their protests - and so perfectly within their rights! They had done nothing to deserve it; and it was adding insult to injury, as the thing was done here, swinging them up in this cold-blooded, impersonal way, without pretence at apology, without the homage of a tear.” [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The industrial process dehumanizes both workers and animals, exposing cruelty hidden behind efficiency. **In simple terms:** Businesslike efficiency hides cruelty. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge dehumanizing systems. Themes industrialization dehumanization ethics animal rights empathy Mood sorrowful critical reflective Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - factory work - food production - animal agriculture - corporate policy - consumer choices Key Concepts capitalism mechanization moral responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How does efficiency justify cruelty? - What responsibilities do consumers have? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize animal suffering without offering solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apology/) [Applied mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/applied-mathematics/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Deserve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deserve/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fascinated Pork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascinated-pork-1128520/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Hog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hog/) [Hogs Innocent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hogs-innocent-1128519/) [Homage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homage/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Injury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injury/) [Innocent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocent/) [Insult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insult/) [Insult to injury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insult-to-injury/) [Machinery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machinery/) [Machinery Pork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machinery-pork-1128523/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Matter of fact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter-of-fact/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Pork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pork/) [Pretence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretence/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Hogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-hogs-1128521/) [Watched Fascinated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watched-fascinated-1128522/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [“And yet somehow the most matter-of-fact person could not help thinking of the hogs; they were so innocent, they came so very trustingly; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/and-yet-somehow-the-most-matter-of-fact-person-could-not-help/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was porkmaking by machinery, porkmaking by applied mathematics. And yet somehow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/it-was-all-so-very-businesslike-that-one-watched-it-fascinated-it-was/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [Applied mathematics will always need pure mathematics just as anteaters will always need ants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-halmos/applied-mathematics-will-always-need-pure-mathematics-just-as/) [Paul Halmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-halmos/) > [The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-halmos/the-only-way-to-learn-mathematics-is-to-do-mathematics/) [Paul Halmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-halmos/) > [I count Maxwell and Einstein, Eddington and Dirac, among "real" mathematicians. The great modern achievements of applied mathematics have been in relativity and quantum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/i-count-maxwell-and-einstein-eddington-and-dirac-among-real/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [“It is the dull and elementary parts of applied mathematics, as it is the dull and elementary parts of pure mathematics, that work for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy-2/it-is-the-dull-and-elementary-parts-of-applied-mathematics-as-it-is/) [G.H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy-2/) > [I do not think the division of the subject into two parts - into applied mathematics and experimental physics a good one, for natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/balfour-stewart/i-do-not-think-the-division-of-the-subject-into-two-parts-into/) [Balfour Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/balfour-stewart/) > [“To be an engineer, and build a marvelous machine, and to see the beauty of its operation is as valid an experience of beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-c-clawson/to-be-an-engineer-and-build-a-marvelous-machine-and-to-see-the-beauty/) [Calvin C. Clawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-c-clawson/) > [The study of geometry is a petty and idle exercise of the mind, if it is applied to no larger system than the starry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-study-of-geometry-is-a-petty-and-idle-exercise-of-the-mind-if-it/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [It was as though applied mathematics was my spouse, and pure mathematics was my secret lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-frenkel/it-was-as-though-applied-mathematics-was-my-spouse-and-pure/) [Edward Frenkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-frenkel/) > [I was fortunate to find an extraordinary mathematics and applied mathematics program in Toronto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kohn/i-was-fortunate-to-find-an-extraordinary-mathematics-and-applied/) [Walter Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kohn/) > [Mathematics should be mixed not only with physics but with ethics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mathematics-should-be-mixed-not-only-with-physics-but-with-ethics/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More by Upton Sinclair > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [You don't have to be satisfied with America as you find it. You can change it. I didn't like the way I found America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/you-don-t-have-to-be-satisfied-with-america-as-you-find-it-you-can/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“A wonderful privilege it was to be thus admitted into the soul of a man of genius, to be allowed to share the ecstasies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/a-wonderful-privilege-it-was-to-be-thus-admitted-into-the-soul-of-a/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“...the souls of none of them were dead, but only sleeping; now and then they would waken, and these were cruel times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/the-souls-of-none-of-them-were-dead-but-only-sleeping-now-and-then/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“He learned that love is not all pleasure, but can be agony and heartache, martyrdom and sacrifice. He learned what the clergyman was talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/he-learned-that-love-is-not-all-pleasure-but-can-be-agony-and/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [I am sustained by a sense of the worthwhileness of what I am doing; a trust in the good faith of the process which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/i-am-sustained-by-a-sense-of-the-worthwhileness-of-what-i-am-doing-a/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“We have a flabby public opinion which would wring its hands in anguish if we took the labor leader by the scruff of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/we-have-a-flabby-public-opinion-which-would-wring-its-hands-in/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“He seemed to be growing conservative, allying himself with Göring’s friends, the great industrialists, and forgetting the promises he had made to the common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/he-seemed-to-be-growing-conservative-allying-himself-with-g-ring-s/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [The first thing brought forth by the study of any religion, ancient or modern, is that it is based upon Fear, born of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/the-first-thing-brought-forth-by-the-study-of-any-religion-ancient-or/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [American journalism is a class institution, serving the rich and spurning the poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/american-journalism-is-a-class-institution-serving-the-rich-and/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“Now I ask you: could any muck-raker in a rage make up a list of titles more completely expressive of vulgarity, commercialism and general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/now-i-ask-you-could-any-muck-raker-in-a-rage-make-up-a-list-of-titles/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“In that country, rich or poor, a man was free... So America was a place of which lovers and young people dreamed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/in-that-country-rich-or-poor-a-man-was-free-so-america-was-a-place-of/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“Study and think and improve your mind, and keep it clear of all this fog of hatred and propaganda”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/study-and-think-and-improve-your-mind-and-keep-it-clear-of-all-this/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/the-private-control-of-credit-is-the-modern-form-of-slavery/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [“When one comes to the ultra-modern profession of advertising," responded Schliemann—"the science of persuading people to buy what they do not want—he is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/when-one-comes-to-the-ultra-modern-profession-of-advertising/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) [Explore all 112 Upton Sinclair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) ## More Apology quotes > [The greatest act of courage is to be and to ownall of who you are—without apology, without excuses, without masks to cover the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/the-greatest-act-of-courage-is-to-be-and-to-ownall-of-who-you-are/) [Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/) > [Apologies are not pass/fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-pausch/apologies-are-not-pass-fail/) [Randy Pausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-pausch/) > [“Why do we apologize for advocating for ourselves? Why do we apologize for taking up space that we are entitled to? Why do we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-tambascio/why-do-we-apologize-for-advocating-for-ourselves-why-do-we-apologize/) [Elizabeth Tambascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-tambascio/) > [It's hard to say sorry when It's really your fault.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakii-retondo/it-s-hard-to-say-sorry-when-it-s-really-your-fault/) [Rakii Retondo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakii-retondo/) > [“A lady need never apologize. ~ Joseph de Bonaparte (Brother of Napoleon)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-pataki/a-lady-need-never-apologize-joseph-de-bonaparte-brother-of-napoleon/) [Allison Pataki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-pataki/) > [And apologies, once postponed, become harder and harder to make, and finally impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/and-apologies-once-postponed-become-harder-and-harder-to-make-and/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [In the formation of such a government, it is not only the right, but the indispensable duty of every citizen to examine the principles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/in-the-formation-of-such-a-government-it-is-not-only-the-right-but/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [Apologizing does not always mean you are wrong, it just means that value your relationships more than your ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinier-bennett/apologizing-does-not-always-mean-you-are-wrong-it-just-means-that/) [Chinier Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinier-bennett/) > [If I can get enough signatures, to present an apology to slavery, I will present it to the President. The House of Representatives has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-douglas/if-i-can-get-enough-signatures-to-present-an-apology-to-slavery-i/) [Kirk Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-douglas/) > [“I don’t care if you’ve changed. I don’t care who you are now. I don’t need or want your explanations because what you did,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-young/i-don-t-care-if-you-ve-changed-i-don-t-care-who-you-are-now-i-don-t/) [Samantha Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-young/) > [I never said Kristen ruined my wedding. At the time, when a million other things had fallen apart that day, I felt like she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scheana-shay/i-never-said-kristen-ruined-my-wedding-at-the-time-when-a-million/) [Scheana Shay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scheana-shay/) > [The greatest form of maturity is at harvest time. This is when we must learn how to reap without complaint if the amounts are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-greatest-form-of-maturity-is-at-harvest-time-this-is-when-we-must/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [“It's clear he still feels something, but what? Is the whole reason he made such a big deal about wanting to talk to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carey-heywood/it-s-clear-he-still-feels-something-but-what-is-the-whole-reason-he/) [Carey Heywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carey-heywood/) > [I wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/i-wasn-t-saying-whatever-they-re-saying-i-was-saying-i-m-sorry-i-said/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [For every person who atones, a hundred others find regret sufficient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/for-every-person-who-atones-a-hundred-others-find-regret-sufficient/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) [Browse all 1,300 Apology quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apology/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was all so very businesslike that one watched it fascinated. It was pork-making by machinery, pork-making by applied mathematics. 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