Cruelty depends on an understanding of cruelty, and the ability to choose against it. Or to choose to ignore it.

Technology celebrates connectedness, but encourages retreat.

When it comes to meat, change is almost always cast as an absolute. You are a vegetarian or you are not.

...there are only some many times you can utter "It does not hurt" before it begins to hurt even more than the hurt.

You're incredibly beautiful,' I told her, because she was fat, so I thought it would be an especially nice compliment, and also make her like me again, even though I was sexist.

You have to do something bad to do something good.

It might sound naive to suggest that whether you order a chicken patty or a veggie burger is a profoundly important decision. Then again, it certainly would have sounded fantastic if in the 1950's you were told that where you sat in a restaurant or on a bus could begin to uproot racism.