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Beware of the words "internal security," for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor.
Voltaire
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote warns against the manipulation of the concept of 'internal security' by those in power to justify oppression.

Voltaire's quote sheds light on the dangers of using the phrase 'internal security' as a tool by oppressive regimes to legitimize control and harm to individual freedoms. It suggests that when authorities prioritize so-called security over liberties, it often results in the infringement of personal rights and the erosion of democratic principles.

Themes

OppressionFreedomSecurityLibertyPower

In practice

Example use cases

During a political rally, this quote could be used to emphasize the importance of safeguarding civil liberties against authoritarian measures.

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