Kids deserve the right to think that they can change the world.
Lois LowryRead
Submitting to censorship is to enter the seductive world of 'The Giver': the world where there are no bad words and no bad deeds. But it is also the world where choice has been taken away and reality distorted. And that is the most dangerous world of all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Censorship creates a false sense of safety by removing choices and distorting reality.
This quote by Lois Lowry highlights the dangers of censorship, suggesting that while it may seem appealing to avoid unpleasant words and actions, the true threat lies in losing the ability to choose and perceive reality clearly. By imposing restrictions on expression, society risks creating a sanitized version of the world that lacks authenticity and does not allow for growth, understanding, and the crucial engagement with the complexities of human experience.
Themes
CensorshipFreedomChoiceRealityDanger
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on artistic freedom, this quote can emphasize the importance of allowing diverse expressions.
More from Lois Lowry
All quotes →Ellen had said that her mother was afraid of the ocean, that it was too cold and too big. The sky was, too, thought Annemarie. The whole world was: too cold, too big. And too cruel.
Lois LowryRead
I always set out to tell a good story, to create a character that young people can relate to, place them in a situation that will be interesting, intriguing, eventually suspenseful. But what I find is that after I do that, then there are themes that emerge, which teachers can then use to provoke discussion and debate.
Lois LowryRead
The man that I named the Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things. [from her Newberry Award acceptance speech]
Lois LowryRead
If somebody takes the time, a: to read a book that I have written, and then to b: care about it enough to write me and ask questions, surely I owe them a response.
Lois LowryRead
I think when you've had success, publishers and reviewers and readers are willing to let you try something new if you've already proven yourself. They're excited about what you're doing, you have people interested in it, and actually waiting for it. It's empowering.
Lois LowryRead
Similar quotes
So you know how things stand. Now forget what they think of you. Be satisfied if you can live the rest of your life, however short, as your nature demands. Focus on that, and don't let anything distract you. You've wandered all over and finally realized that you never found what you were after: how to live. Not in syllogisms, not in money, or fame, or self-indulgence. Nowhere.
Marcus AureliusRead
Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly. Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
But we should be mindful as we argue about our differences that so much more unites than divides us. We should also note that our differences, when compared with those in many, if not most, other countries, are smaller than we sometimes imagine them to be.
John MccainRead
Israel claims it needs nuclear weapons as a deterrent against any threat to its existence. The Arab world in return feels that this is an imbalanced system; there is a sense of humiliation and impotence.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
When a private enterprise fails, it is closed down; when a government enterprise fails, it is expanded. Isn't that exactly what's been happening with drugs?
Milton FriedmanRead
The secret of life is to have no fear; it's the only way to function.
Stokely CarmichaelRead