Harmlessness

1037: 

If I need confidence, in order to give strength to the things I say, I must operate on the principle of non-violence. This is why vegans come across as being confident, because they have this on their side.

This principle is confirmed all day, every day, until it becomes the symbolic and real basis of our eating, shopping, thinking and talking. Our food makes us strong in so many ways, including the way we stand before others.

All the time a vegan is simply being a vegan, there are no problems, only a strength-of-being-confident about something important. But as soon as we take a political stand and try to convince others to follow suit we find ourselves in much trickier position. There’s a thin line between stating why we are vegan and trying to convert others.  If we consider talking about animal rights and vegan living in the public forum, however enthusiastic we might be, we need to be representatives of harmlessness.  Sure, we need to be assertive and not indecisive, but we need to temper everything we say by our need to achieve a non-violent approach.