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... there may be a crucial difference between thinking that it would have been better if the world had never come into existence, and thinking that we may take it upon ourselves to destroy the life that already exists.

— Jamie Mayerfeld Suffering and Moral Responsibility (1999)

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More quotes by Jamie Mayerfeld

We might say (again metaphorically) that suffering cries out for its own abolition ... .

Suffering and Moral Responsibility (1999)

... the duty to relieve suffering comes in two parts: a prohibition against inflicting suffering, and a requirement to prevent it. What we tend to underestimate is less the former than the latter.

Suffering and Moral Responsibility (1999)

... suffering cries out for its own abolition ... .

Suffering and Moral Responsibility (1999)

Real cases of suffering ... tend to go unheard. This is not only because people who are genuinely suffering typically lack the resources with which to publicize their condition, but also because ... many forms of suffering deprive people of the very ability to express, sometimes even think, the fact that they are suffering.

Suffering and Moral Responsibility (1999)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jamie Mayerfeld (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.