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… it is less imperatively my duty to give pleasure than it is to alleviate pain. If someone else is not actually suffering then it seems more acceptable to leave to them … the provision of their own pleasures.

— Richard D. Ryder Painism: A Modern Morality (2001)

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More quotes by Richard D. Ryder

Our first moral concern should always be with the individual who is the maximum sufferer.

Painism: A Modern Morality (2001)

It is always wrong to cause pain to A merely in order to increase the pleasure of B.

Painism: A Modern Morality (2001)

Their experiences may be more simple than ours, but are they less intense? Perhaps a caterpillar’s primitive pain when squashed is greater than our more sophisticated sufferings.

Painism: A Modern Morality (2001)

We have an obligation to try to reduce the pains of others, wherever they are, and however the pains have been caused.

Painism: A Modern Morality (2001)

The implication of painism is that political policies should extend to individuals of all nations, races, and species on an 'equal pain equal treatment' basis.

Putting Morality Back Into Politics (2006)

All Richard D. Ryder quotes →

Attribution

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