My strength needs no victims. My strength is my compassion.
— Patrik Baboumian
I just realized that if it's really compassion that drives you, maybe it's not enough just to stop eating animals but you maybe should boycott the whole animal industry, because... it's not what you as a compassionate being would want. So actually you should go one step further and become vegan.
Someone once asked me, 'How can you get as strong as an ox without eating any meat?' My answer was, 'Have you ever seen an ox eating meat?'
We live in a cerebral society, in which we have forgotten how fascinating strength is.
I'm probably the most unthinkable vegan on the planet for several reasons.
I got heavier, I got stronger, I won the European championship title in powerlifting, I broke three world records so everything was going perfect.
One day, I just thought, if you see a bird with a broken leg, you really have the urge to do something about it and help the bird. Then, at the same time, you go to a restaurant and eat a chicken or something. It doesn't make any sense.
I grew like a weed, though mostly from side to side.
Most people think if you are vegan you eat just green stuff, you just eat salad and lettuce and veggies the whole day... I'm eating beans, legumes, lentils and peas and rice and potatoes and a lot of things that have calories to give me the energy to do what I do.
I always had that desire of being strong and being able to protect myself, being able to protect others.
When bombing is going on, you see a lot of people screaming around you and you can't do anything if you're small. You just want to break out of that and be strong.
I felt that I was fooling myself eating meat considering my inability to kill an animal, so I just thought I'd better be honest to myself and stop eating meat.
Children never say that their father is the smartest; instead they boast that he's the strongest.
I'm not saying everyone should go vegan in just a few days but I'm saying we should reduce the amount of animal products that we use dramatically.
