Zoroaster — "Be kind to all beings. Especially those who bring you food."
Be kind to all beings. Especially those who bring you food.
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More from Zoroaster
"Beware of lust; it corrupteth both the body and the mind."
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"I declare the truth to all who will listen."
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About Zoroaster (c. 1500-1000 BCE (debated))
Iranian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism, the first major religion of cosmic dualism between good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Angra Mainyu). Closely associated with The Buddha (near-contemporary Eastern moral-cosmological revolutionary). For an intellectual contrast, see Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher of 'beyond good and evil' — Nietzsche appropriated Zarathustra's name for Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883) precisely to invert the original's moral cosmology — the historical Zoroaster founded the good-versus-evil framework Nietzsche's character announces the end of.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Treat every living creature with kindness, and reserve extra gratitude for those who feed you. The line frames compassion as a universal duty but singles out the people and animals that sustain your daily life. In plain terms: practice broad decency, and never take for granted the ones whose labor or sacrifice puts a meal in front of you. Gratitude toward providers is itself a form of moral practice.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster taught that good thoughts, good words, and good deeds toward all creation were the core of righteous life, and his faith placed unusual moral weight on cattle, farmers, and the settled agricultural order against raiding nomads. Protecting the cow and honoring the herdsman were central to his ethics, so a line pairing universal kindness with special regard for food-providers fits his worldview precisely and reflects his pastoral reform of Iranian religion.
The era
Zoroaster lived in the Bronze or early Iron Age on the Iranian steppe, probably between 1500 and 1000 BCE, when settled herders and farmers were under constant pressure from raiding warrior bands. Food security was fragile, cattle were wealth, and famine was a real threat. Religion across the region still glorified warriors and blood sacrifice, so elevating kindness to all beings and respect for those who produced food was a genuine ethical revolution for its time.
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