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Umberto Veronesi

76 quotes

“The risk of cancer is proportional to the amount of food you put in: more food, more risks.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Humans are primates, that is, they are modified monkeys, and they have retained their fundamental metabolic characteristics. Primates have been and are vegetarians [...].”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[...] the so-called Mediterranean diet, based on vegetables, fruit, and pasta, traditional for centuries in Italy, has proven effective in preventing cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. The return to a Mediterranean-style diet has contributed, together with more effective drugs, to a decrease in cardiovascular disease mortality.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Mediterranean diet is the exact opposite of the consumerist attitude of our «fluent» society. Rather, it is a philosophy of life and eating behavior and essentially consists of eating little, parically, Franciscanly, trying above all to abandon the unnatural condition of omnivorous (and therefore also carnivorous) animals in favor of a return to our ancient anthropologically vegetarian history.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I consider vegetarianism a cultural achievement and a sign of civilization. Vegetarians feel like citizens of the Earth, because they don't have to kill and massacre its inhabitants to meet their basic need for food. Vegetarian pride is similar to that felt by Greeks who belonged to the first philosophical schools, and in fact, convinced vegetarians, from Leonardo da Vinci to the Beatles, have made their choice a banner, indicating a certain vision of the world: with less violence, less death, more conscience, and more sense of individual responsibility.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Einstein was probably the first to also define vegetarianism as a necessity for the survival of humanity, linking personal food choices to the balance of the planet's resources.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[...] vegetarianism is a choice of respect for the environment and responsibility towards man's future. But above all it is a choice of love for life and for animals. I realize it's hard to think of the terrible pain animals suffer when eating meat: how can we imagine that that thin, well-cooked slice they present on our plate was just a few days earlier a calf scurrying through the meadows next to its mother? Even less easy is to visualize the torture he suffered in the slaughterhouse.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[...] I recommend to everyone the book that has now become the cult of vegetarianism: If Nothing Matters [...], in which the American author explains why she went from carnivore to vegetarian. The central theme is the violence perpetrated daily against farm animals and the reflection on the consequences that this terrible pain has on human life.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Whether he would be willing to resort to euthanasia] Without the slightest hesitation. If an illness deprived me of my dignity as a person I would ask for euthanasia. I also made the living will that contains my wishes on the end of my life, in case I was unable to express them in person.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[If he ever had second thoughts about abandoning faith] Losing God forced me to seek moral values within myself. They are enough to give me strength. Ethical commitment is the only thing God left me. I have not had and will not have any second thoughts, but I have continued to study religions.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I consider death a biological duty and imperative. Since I was a boy I thought that life must end and has no metaphysical dimension. He who believes in the absolute finitude of life is always ready to die. There is no need to forgive or ask for forgiveness of sins or redeem oneself to ensure a good sojourn in the afterlife. If our ideas are our immortality, with our life of thought, every day we prepare to die.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[On his consideration of sex] Sex is a positive and indispensable vital expression. Besides being, I repeat, an imperative of DNA, which commands us to reproduce.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am a committed vegetarian for ethical reasons (I don't want to satisfy my throat at the expense of the pain and death of other animals), but in making these statements I rely on more than established scientific reasons. We are surrounded by pollutants, which collective sensitivity now considers a risk to our lives. They are harmful substances if we breathe them in, but much more so if we ingest them. By consuming meat, we put ourselves in precisely this situation, because from the atmosphere these substances fall back onto the ground, and therefore onto the grass which, eaten by livestock, accumulates in its fatty deposits, and finally arrives on our plate when we eat the meat. A toxic substance is more dangerous if ingested than if breathed in.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Humanity risks a destructive ripple effect: depletion of energy, drinking water, and staple foods to satisfy unhealthy food consumption. Meat consumption has increased in China and India, just as it does not stop in the West. The numbers don't add up. Six billion inhabitants, three billion cattle for slaughter (every kilo of meat burns 20 thousand litres of water), 15 billion birds for food, production of fuels from cereals. There won't be any more food in a while. Wheat, soybeans, rice, corn are increasingly expensive and are going to fatten farm animals. We have to stop now. First step: becoming vegetarian, or almost.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've been a vegetarian since I started choosing, and mine is a choice of love, philosophy, and science. Of love for animals and for life in all its forms, especially when it is helpless and cannot assert its desperate need to survive. No existence is small, none is insignificant. Eating is a form of celebration of life, and not denial of life itself to other living beings, because they are "inferior." There is no biological difference between animals. Why then is it horrifying to think of eating our dog, but we slaughter hundreds of lambs every Easter to celebrate? The philosophy of vegetarianism is nonviolence, and the violence to which animals for slaughter are subjected is brutal and cruel.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am a vegetarian for ethical, not medical, reasons. Animals should be respected and not killed and then eaten. All animals. I am often asked why I chose to be a vegetarian. The first response is of an ethical nature. This is a choice I made a long time ago, because I firmly believe that men have no right to cause the suffering and death of other living beings. Animals experience emotions, pain, fear. What right do we have to snatch the lamb from the sheep to enjoy a leg of lamb, and the calf from the cow to have the "slices" that human mothers love so much for their children? I don't think mine are romantic ideas, without foundation. I still remember a shocking investigation into the real terror that grips the animals taken to the slaughterhouse, when they arrive near the slaughterhouse. Let's stop saying that animals "don't understand.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My law does not concern the subject of the permanent vegetative state in its entirety, but only the right of every citizen to reject this unnatural way of ending his life. Today, the decision on how and when to extend care is entirely in the hands of doctors, while instead it is the inalienable right of every citizen to decide whether to start or when to leave supportive treatment. [...] In the past there was a fear of dying prematurely. Today there is that of surviving beyond the natural limit of life, in an artificial condition, devoid of consciousness and life of relationship. [...] Those who have faith will choose to trust God. Or, still by faith, he will refuse treatments that could save him (blood transfusions for Jehovah's Witnesses). Those who have no faith will be able to rely on the powers of medical science or choose to set limits.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The national health system has three flaws: the first is that it doesn't reward the quality of treatment; the second is that the national health system doesn't address prevention; and the other is that there's too much political infiltration, that's all. [...] I created the most advanced national system [...] in the world, not for quality, but for accessibility. Private healthcare has the problem that someone gains on the diseases of others, which is not something ethically very appreciable. Therefore this institute [the IEO], for example, has opened a new path: a private non-profit hospital, which therefore obliges us by statute to reinvest everything in research. We can't keep anything. [...] donors, who are also members of the board of directors, cannot take, withdraw anything.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Eating meat increases your chances of running into many serious conditions (some potentially fatal). I'm convinced it's impossible to count the number of problems we could avoid if we consumed less meat... On the contrary, plant-based foods have a protective function against the action of free radicals, that is, those molecules that can irreparably damage the structure of cells and their DNA: we often hear about them, «free radicals» is a term that has entered common parlance, yet we struggle to accept that to combat them we must adopt a vegetarian diet. Scandalous amounts are spent on antioxidant supplements that would combat aging and oxidation, when the best and most effective system would be to eat sensibly!”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would like to see the debate for the liberalisation of soft drugs reopened in Italy too. The time has come to overcome ideological barriers and admit that prohibition does not serve to reduce consumption. The Constitutional Court's ruling, declaring the Fini-Giovanardi law unconstitutional, demonstrates, once again, the more civilly advanced view of our judges compared to Parliament. With the rejection of the law, which equated hard and soft drugs and provided for sentences of up to 20 years in prison, it was estimated that sentences for 10,000 inmates would have to be reviewed because they were related to the use of soft drugs, and therefore for minor crimes. This is a huge number, corresponding to almost half of all drug inmates, approximately 40% of prisoners overall. Now, it is estimated that about 50% of our young people use cannabis, in addition to many adults. Does this mean that half of young Italians are criminals? If that were the case, there would be all the more reason to consider Fini-Giovanardi a total failure. Putting soft and hard drugs on the same level is unscientific.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am against the idea of waging war on the Islamic State, because violence calls violence. The more they cut off heads, the more we bomb: someone must stop this chain of action and reaction and must do so with dialogue and religious tolerance. The Is must be heard. Rather, a peacemaking effort must be made by those who consider themselves civilized, against irrationality. ISIS is made up of a group of Sunnis who feel marginalized in Iraq and have created a very extremist movement, effectively because they want a homeland and are calling on Iraq to cede a small area, no larger than Lombardy, to create the Islamic state. In practice, it is a group that has been divided by artificial boundaries for many years. The IS must be listened to, its reasons must be understood, because like other minorities in Europe and around the world it calls for a homeland.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A vegetarian diet, by reason of its low content of saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and animal proteins, and its high concentrations of folic acids, antioxidants, and phytoestrogens—shown to be effective in inhibiting the growth or in promoting the regression of serious coronary pathologies—constitutes a barrier against a number of chronic degenerative diseases, cancer among them. And that is not all. Fruits and vegetables—besides contaminating us much less than some other foods—are troves of precious substances that enable the neutralization of carcinogenic agents and that 'dilute' the concentration of diseased cells and reduce their proliferation. All of these advantages, as well as many others, emerged from studies on populations in the last century.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sex is everywhere today: on the front pages of newspapers, on magazine covers, in advertisements, online, on all television channels. There is an ostentation, almost an obsession, which hides a fearsome void in my opinion. It is as if in the era following sexual liberation, after years of cultural struggles against obscurantism, sex was by no means a natural integration of male-female relationships. On the contrary, it returns to being the symbol of transgression, and intrigues only if it is forbidden, exaggerated, maniacal, magical, or even virtual. And from here to becoming an instrument of blackmail and violence, the step is short. The reason for this situation is first and foremost biological, and it is the price of equality between the sexes, an achievement that attenuates gender differences and weakens the spontaneous attraction that ignites sexual desire. (p. 53)”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yet I am against abortion. We all are, I believe: there is no person who is not ideally opposed to terminating a pregnancy, because it is an act against nature (in the sense that it opposes the genetic imperative of reproduction [...]) and because it produces traumatic consequences from a psychological point of view. But condemning abortion with a law, making it illegal, does not prevent abortions from happening. [...] Voluntary abortion is a serious event, but clandestine abortion is a tragedy: therefore, offering a woman the opportunity to have a legal and controlled abortion corresponds to the choice of the «lesser evil». And so, within this lesser evil, the RU486 pill method –which I have supported since the first mentions of the possibility of its introduction in Italy– is the best choice, because it is the least painful for women. (pp. 98-99)”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Always, as soon as I've been able to choose my food, I don't touch a bite of meat and, in fact, the more time passes, the more the idea itself repels me. I don't doubt that its taste can be pleasant. But can the criterion of goodness of taste ethically justify every act by which we procure food for ourselves? An episode comes to mind that tells the story of the adventures of the famous explorer David Livingstone. During his African expeditions he meets an elderly woman from an anthropophagous tribe who tastefully bites a child's little finger. Livingstone is horrified by the scene, asks her how a woman, probably a mother and grandmother, can commit such an act, and the cannibal's response, which even seems to show some amazement, is: "If only he knew how good it is!" (p. 9)”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[If you consider yourself a provocateur] I am not a provocateur unless by provoking you mean inducing a different view of things that is detached from the clichés and most popular positions. [...] You see, there's a double common thread that ties all my thought struggles together. The first is the need to shatter acquired legacies and truths to develop a system of ideas and values of one's own. The second is the belief that all phenomena have a cause and only by acting on the causes can even the most painful and tragic situations be resolved. This is also the meaning of my words about Is. Opposing violence to violence only fuels a spiral of blood, death, and fear. Exactly what the Is wants. Instead, it is necessary to understand the reasons for jihadist madness and intervene on these after having legitimized them, but decoded them.”
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source