Zoroaster — "Be kind to all beings. Especially those who bring you food."
Be kind to all beings. Especially those who bring you food.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Zoroaster
"A righteous government is of all the most to be wished for, Bearing of blessing and good fortune in the highest. Guided by the law of Truth, supported by dedication and zeal, It blossoms into the Best…"
"The demonic powers or daævás are expressions or faces (čithr) of aká manah or 'beaten/anguished mind.'"
"Always meet petulance with gentleness and perverseness with kindness. A gentle hand can lead even an elephant by a hair. Reply to thine enemy with gentleness."
"The evil shall be cast into darkness, but the righteous shall walk in light."
"He who refuses to behold with respect the living creation of God, He who leads the good to wickedness... An enemy of my faith, a destroyer of Thy principles is he, O Lord!"
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.
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
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.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].