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Q: Source for Vegetarian Quote of George Bernard Shaw ( No Answer,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Source for Vegetarian Quote of George Bernard Shaw
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Books and Literature
Asked by: torontotapir-ga
List Price: $40.00
Posted: 10 Jun 2004 08:35 PDT
Expires: 15 Jun 2004 06:07 PDT
Question ID: 359186
I am trying to identify the source for the following quote/anecdote
which has been attributed to George Bernard Shaw:

George Bernard Shaw once challenged a woman who mocked his refusal to
eat animals.  "Madam," he said, "I doubt that you could eat that bird
if you had to kill him yourself."

I have tried many different internet searches (and a cursory
Lexis/Nexis Academic search)without success. I have also tried
different variations of this quote and searches excluding Shaw in case
this was not his quote/anecdote. There have been some current
writers/activists who have made similar type of statements, but I am
not looking for those. I am specifically trying to identify the Shaw
source or another classic source (in case it is not Shaw's). Shaw had
many quotes about vegetarianism in general but I am only trying to
find the source to this particular quote/anecdote. Also some
vegetarian websites may have posted this quote without sources (as it
may have just been circulated as an urban myth)- I would be interested
to know if someone has posted the quote as well but I am ultimately
interested in the original source.

Thank you very much.

Clarification of Question by torontotapir-ga on 10 Jun 2004 08:38 PDT
The deadline for an answer to this question is Wednesday June 16, 2004.
Thank you

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 10 Jun 2004 09:00 PDT
There is a well-researched list of quotes about vegetarianism here:

http://www.quotegarden.com/vegetarianism.html

including several from GBS.  

Might any of these be what you're looking for?  

I suspect that if there *had* been a well-known quote along the lines
of the "kill him yourself..." quote, it would have appeared in this
collection.

Clarification of Question by torontotapir-ga on 10 Jun 2004 09:31 PDT
In response to pafalafa-ga's question:
I have seen that website and similar sites but without success. It
does seem like a quote that would fit perfectly into those collections
so it must be more obscure or not Shaw's.
Thanks

Clarification of Question by torontotapir-ga on 10 Jun 2004 10:33 PDT
Apparantly this incident may have occurred when the famous person was
at a dinner party, in London, and possibly tied a chicken to a chair
and held up an ax to illustrate the point.

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 11 Jun 2004 05:24 PDT
This isn't it, but it has some of the right concepts, anyway:

"If you declare that you are naturally designed for such a diet, then
first kill for yourself what you want to eat. Do it, however, only
through your own resources, unaided by cleaver or cudgel or any kind
of ax." - Plutarch

Still looking...

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 12 Jun 2004 14:34 PDT
Here's a quote from Annie Besant, a religious and political activist
who was a contemporary of Shaw:

"Suppose that we had to kill for ourselves the creatures whose bodies
we would fain have upon our table, is there one woman in a hundred who
would go to the slaughterhouse to slay the bullock, the calf, the
sheep or the pig?"

http://www.europeanvegetarian.org/775.0.html

Clarification of Question by torontotapir-ga on 13 Jun 2004 06:49 PDT
That was a great quote on the exact same theme. Yes, I have seen that
before but thank you anyhow.  Unfortunately, I am looking for a source
specifically of that dinner party anecdote/incident. It may just have
been an urban myth but I have heard it mentioned in conversation
before a few times and I am searching for a credible source.
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Source for Vegetarian Quote of George Bernard Shaw
From: pinkfreud-ga on 12 Jun 2004 14:17 PDT
 
Here is a good modern phrasing of the sentiment, attributed to British
actress Margi Clark:

"I think if you want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and
eat it raw so that you are not blinded by the hypocrisy of having it
processed for you.

~Margi Clark"

http://www.quotegarden.com/vegetarianism.html

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