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Ask for work. If they don't give you work, ask for bread. If they do not give you work or bread, then take bread.
Emma Goldman
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity and the necessity of taking action when one's needs are not met.

Emma Goldman's quote speaks to the human struggle for survival and dignity. It highlights the proactive approach one must take when faced with obstacles, urging individuals to first seek assistance and, if that fails, to take what they need to survive. This reflects a philosophy of courage and assertiveness in pursuing one’s basic rights and needs, especially in a society that may be indifferent to individual suffering.

Themes

CourageActionSurvivalAdvocacyPerseverance

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about social justice, one could invoke this quote to inspire action against inequality.

More from Emma Goldman

On rare occasions one does hear of a miraculous case of a married couple falling in love after marriage, but on close examination it will be found that it is a mere adjustment to the inevitable.
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No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
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To the indefinite, uncertain mind of the American radical the most contradictory ideas and methods are possible. The result is a sad chaos in the radical movement, a sort of intellectual hash, which has neither taste nor character.
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John Burroughs has stated that experimental study of animals in captivity is absolutely useless. Their character, their habits, their appetites undergo a complete transformation when torn from their soil in field and forest. With human nature caged in a narrow space, whipped daily into submission, how can we speak of its potentialities?
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Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are non-existent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only through man's subordination.
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If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus.
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Quote by Emma Goldman | QuoteProject