What I have to work with is the life that's ahead of me right this minute.
The idea that somebody is going to come in and make your debt go away and all be well for the future is really a fantasy.
Evolution happens in nature and in individuals. I want to participate actively in its happening within me.
I'm over the hill, maybe even the whole mountain range, but I don't see it that way even one little bit.
It simply feels right to me to blend the glittery delights of New York City with a largely raw vegan diet - with the soul-deep conviction that animals are not ours to eat, wear, exploit or experiment on.
I see people having fits because their coffee is too hot or their baked potato is too cold, or some random something is imperfect and somebody can be blamed for it. These people can fly off the handle and nobody says, 'Too much beef will do that to a person.' If it's a vegan: a clear case of alfalfa sprout poisoning.
Taking B12 is the price of getting to be vegan, the way wearing a helmet is the price of getting to ride a motorcycle and giving up alcohol for nine months is the price of getting to have a baby.
On the issue of abortion, I'm ever on the fence, or, at most, an inch or two to either side.
I'm not perfect, but what's wonderful about eating a plant-based diet is, I don't have to be.
Moderation is actually the flip side of dieting, that is, imposed deprivation.
Every year when I put away my winter clothes and get out my summer clothes, they fit. And I haven't been on a diet since the Reagan administration.
As I see it, a green salad is an open invitation to carrots, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and the sprouts that grow in jars on my kitchen counter.
I was a fat kid who didn't discover the joys of active play at the time of life when we're supposed to be imprinted with a love of movement. That means that I'd rather be called for jury duty than go to the gym, but I go anyway.
Beauty at 70 years old isn't the same as beauty at 20 years old, but it is stunning nonetheless.
When it comes to literal nourishment, the food we eat, life begets life.
My most firmly held value is what Albert Schweitzer termed 'reverence for life.' I take this seriously; many would say that because I extend it to nonhumans, I take it too far.
I realize that I'm a mature woman and one of these days, incredible diet or not, I'll be a little old lady.
I don't have the activist temperament. I like listening to divergent points of view and hearing people out. I like getting along. I even like being liked, although activists of any stripe should get rid of that handicap at the outset.
I know that as a vegan, I'm in a minority. People love their meat. It's up there with sugar and TV and maybe even coffee on the list of inalienable American rights.
Being vegan is a glorious adventure. It touches every aspect of my life - my relationships, how I relate to the world.
