Fascism says what you and I experience as facts or what reporters experience as facts are irrelevant. All that matters are impressions and emotions and myths.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
If it turns out that there are emotions and values that are more numerous and more vibrant than indifference and hatred, things are going to be okay. That depends on us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Emotions of love and kindness can overcome negative feelings. It's up to us to choose positivity over indifference and hatred.
Timothy D. Snyder's quote emphasizes that despite the prevalence of negative emotions like indifference and hatred, there exists a more abundant and vibrant spectrum of positive emotions and values. The transformation of society hinges on our collective ability to nurture and express these positive feelings, suggesting that hope and change are possible if we choose to cultivate compassion and connection.
Themes
EmotionsValuesPositivityIndifferenceHatred
In practice
Example use cases
In a keynote speech about community building, I can use this quote to inspire individuals to focus on empathy.
More from Timothy D. Snyder
All quotes →Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of 'our institutions' unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don't protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
Brittle masculinity, in the right setting, becomes political atrocity. Strength brings problems; weakness brings others, but weakness posing as strength is the most dangerous of all.
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If we don't have access to facts, we can't trust each other. Without trust, there's no law. Without law, there's no democracy.
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Totalitarianism is not about some state that appears out of nowhere and suddenly is all-powerful. There can't be any such thing. Totalitarianism starts when the difference between your public life and your private life is effaced.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
The 20th century shows that the form of government that we take for granted, a constitutional democratic republic with checks and balances and a rule of law - that form of government is usually temporary.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
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