The task of the media in a democracy is not to ease the path of those who govern, but to make life difficult for them by constant vigilance as to how they exercise the power they only hold in trust from the people.
From the very depth of my being, I challenge the right of any man or any group of men, in business or in government, to tell a fellow human being that he or she is expendable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the inherent value of every individual and challenges the notion that any person can be deemed unimportant or replaceable.
Jimmy Reid's quote speaks to the core value of human dignity and the belief that no one should be considered expendable, whether in the context of business or government. It serves as a powerful reminder that each individual has unique worth and contributions, and it criticizes structures that fail to recognize or respect this fundamental truth. By asserting this challenge, Reid encourages a more compassionate and equitable perspective towards one another in society.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on workplace equality, one might use this quote to advocate for the value of each employee.
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The sun is a thief: she lures the sea and robs it. The moon is a thief: he steals his silvery light from the sun. The sea is a thief: it dissolves the moon.
A southern moon is a sodden moon, and sultry. When it swamps the fields and the rustling sandy roads and the sticky honeysuckle hedges in its sweet stagnation, your fight to hold on to reality is like a protestation against a first waft of ether.
If you want to be free, be free, because there's a million things to be.
You can't have intentions without consequences. The question is, who pays for the consequences? Saving fish from drowning. Same thing. Who’s saved? Who’s not?
What we see in the outer is but a reflection of the inner, because we surround ourselves with a picture of our own beliefs. In other words, we manifest in general what we seriously think and believe. So if we want to find out what our habitual thinking is like, we have but to look around us and ask ourselves what we really see.
We have built a thousand temples to Fortune and not one to Reason