VICTORIA MORAN

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.

Life would be very dreary if there were no magic. If the real world were only that veil of tears, I just don't think could get up in the morning.

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.

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.

You're supposed to be using your gifts and fulfilling your dreams, at every age.

I am an urban vegan. I love the glossy pages of 'Vogue,' even though I won't purchase the leather shoes and bags I see there, and being reminded that the fur trade even exists breaks my heart.

The idea that somebody else is going to swoop down and play the fairy godmother role is pretty unlikely, so why not take care of yourself?

The idea that everything is purposeful really changes the way you live. To think that everything that you do has a ripple effect, that every word that you speak, every action that you make affects other people and the planet.

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.

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.

I'm not perfect, but what's wonderful about eating a plant-based diet is, I don't have to be.

By itself, tofu is like wet foam rubber, but you'd no more eat it by itself and expect fine dining than you would stare at a blank canvas and expect to see fine art.

My calling, as one imperfect human, is to celebrate and uphold life every time I get the chance.

Enjoy your food, enjoy your life.

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.

Recreational shopping is the shortest distance between two points: you and broke.

'Make your plate look like a Christmas tree,' I tell people, 'mostly green with splashes of other bright colors.'

Being vegan is not the key to immortality. We're all going to get sick and die. But to know you're living without harming? That's the loveliest feeling.

I suppose I am one: an activist - for animals and a vegan lifestyle. I hear that word, however, and look around to see if someone is indeed referring to me.

When it comes to literal nourishment, the food we eat, life begets life.

Your body has something in the neighborhood of 40 trillion cells - quite a consulting committee. Call on it when you're confused or undecided. Relax quietly and ask your body what it has to say.

Beauty at 70 years old isn't the same as beauty at 20 years old, but it is stunning nonetheless.

On the issue of abortion, I'm ever on the fence, or, at most, an inch or two to either side.

We all live with blinders on. They come with having a personal vantage point.