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.
More from Jimmy Reid
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Every situation--nay, every moment--is of infinite worth; for it is the representative of a whole eternity.
It's a mystery. That's the first thing that interests me about the idea of God. If there is one, it's mysterious and powerful and awesome to even consider the concept, and you have to take it seriously.
The real cost of the State is the prosperity we do not see, the jobs that don’t exist, the technologies to which we do not have access, the businesses that do not come into existence, and the bright future that is stolen from us. The State has looted us just as surely as a robber who enters our home at night and steals all that we love.
And he found himself thinking that maybe stories don't just make us matter to each other - maybe they're also the only way to the infinite mattering he'd been after for so long.
Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we cannot practice it in full, we must try to understand its spirit and refrain as far as is humanly possible from violence.
So virtue is a purposive disposition, lying in a mean that is relative to us and determined by a rational principle, and by that which a prudent man would use to determine it. It is a mean between two kinds of vice, one of excess and the other of deficiency.