Gradually I came to realize that people will more readily swallow lies than truth, as if the taste of lies was homey, appetizing: a habit.
Martha GellhornRead
Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make his own informed opinion and stand by it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Citizenship requires active engagement and responsibility in forming and sharing personal opinions.
This quote emphasizes the responsibility of individuals in a democracy to not only have their own informed opinions but also to stand firm in them. It suggests that being a citizen is not a passive role; rather, it involves critical thinking and commitment to one's beliefs, which are essential in influencing society and governance.
Themes
CitizenshipResponsibilityOpinionDemocracyEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
During a citizenship class, I quoted, 'Citizenship is a tough occupation...' to highlight the importance of informed opinions.
More from Martha Gellhorn
All quotes βIt would be a bitter cosmic joke if we destroy ourselves due to atrophy of the imagination.
Martha GellhornRead
the ends never justify the means because IT never ends.
Martha GellhornRead
I followed the war wherever I could reach it.
Martha GellhornRead
Thousand got away to other countries; thousands returned to Spain tempted by false promises of kindness. By the tens of thousands, these Spaniards died of neglect in the concentration camps.
Martha GellhornRead
By its existence, the Peace Movement denies that governments know best; it stands for a different order of priorities: the human race comes first.
Martha GellhornRead
Similar quotes
Something my dad would say was that it's not important to win, but it's important to know how not to be defeated. The art of invincibility is the most important attribute in Jiu-Jitsu.
Rickson GracieRead
Perspective [is] a luxury when your head [is] constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.
Khaled HosseiniRead
To exchange one orthodoxy for another is not necessarily an advance. The enemy is the gramophone mind, whether or not one agrees with the record that is being played at the moment.
George OrwellRead
As the clockwork of the millennia moved a notch in front of their eyes, it had taken their thoughts from small things and reminded them of how vulnerable they were to time.
Mark HelprinRead
A man's personal defects will commonly have with the rest of the world precisely that importance which they have to himself. If he makes light of them, so will other men.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
A war, with its attendant human suffering, must, when that evil is unavoidable, be made to fragment more than buildings: It must shatter the foundations of thought and re-create. Only in this way does every individual share in the cataclysm and understand the purpose of sacrifice.
Wole SoyinkaRead