Linda Bender Quotes

The fewer plants and animals we are able to recognize as individuals - recognize well enough to name - the more alienated we have come to feel from ourselves, the Earth and God, the Source.

Most of us are used to thinking that “imaginary” is the opposite of “real.” That is, when we imagine things, we are just making them up. In the spiritual life, though, there are some realities that cannot manifest unless we begin by imagining them.

Animals in children’s literature always have a soul life because children perceive animals as having souls.

Every species embodies a solution to some environmental challenge, and some of these solutions are breathtaking in their elegance.

Grieving the loss of a loved one - whether human or animal - is not only permissible, it is essential.

The fact that we are eternal spiritual beings doesn’t detract from the importance of our temporary physical existence. On the contrary, it makes that existence all the more precious and remarkable.

The inner encounters I have with animals - and will be teaching you to have - are exchanges of meaning.

Animals remind us that all beings who walk, stand, swim, crawl, or fly are radiant, mysterious, and unique expressions of the Source. Every species, every culture, has it’s own genius.

I take it hard when an animal in my care suffers or dies. I take it even harder when the animal's suffering is the result of human exploitation or carelessness.

Has it ever struck you as odd that humans are the only creatures on the planet who wear clothes? Everything else, from aardvarks to zebras, is running around in its birthday suit, blissfully unclear of the concept of underpants. Why don't people do the same?

It is commonplace, and true, to point out that animals are happier than people because they live entirely in the present.

Animals suffer both emotionally and physically, but they don't suffer metaphysically. That is, they don't suffer about suffering, don't get thrown into spiritual confusion by it, or fall out of connection with the divine because of it.

Animals don't know exactly what will happen when they die any more than we do. In the absence of specific knowledge, they simply trust. They trust death the way they trust life: as participation in the Source. What will happen when they die must be okay because what is happening now is okay.

Because we tend to equate intelligence with language-particularly the ability to use language to think and communicate abstractions-it is natural to conclude that animals are, on the whole, a lot less intelligent than we are.

I believe we have this idea that bad things ought to be prevented from happening.

I believe the happiness we feel in relation to animals is immensely significant. I believe it is absolutely central to our physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being.

Change comes from dedicated, ordinary people, in the trenches, serving a cause greater than self.

We all came into this world wired to connect with all life.