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Is it not enough that 'things are cruel and blind'? Must we also be cruel and blind?
Voltairine De Cleyre
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote questions whether we should mirror the cruelty and blindness of the world around us.

Voltairine De Cleyre's quote challenges individuals to reflect on their own behavior in the face of a harsh world. It suggests that while the circumstances around us may be cruel and indifferent, we have the choice not to adopt those same traits, urging us to strive for compassion and awareness instead of succumbing to a negative mindset.

Themes

CrueltyBlindnessCompassionAwarenessChoice

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a discussion about ethical behavior in the face of social injustices.

More from Voltairine De Cleyre

Speak, speak, speak, & remember that whenever anyone's liberty to speak is denied, your liberty is denied also, & your place is where the attack is.
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Anarchism, to me, means not only the denial of authority, not only a new economy, but a revision of the principles of morality. It means the development of the individual as well as the assertion of the individual. It means self-responsibility, and not leader worship.
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Make no laws whatever concerning speech, and speech will be free; so soon as you make a declaration on paper that speech shall be free, you will have a hundred lawyers proving that "freedom does not mean abuse, nor liberty license," and they will define freedom out of existence.
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I think it can be shown that the law makes ten criminals where it restrains one.
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The question of souls is oldβ€”we demand our bodies, now. We are tired of promises, god is deaf, and his church is our worst enemy.
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Government is as unreal, as intangible, as unapproachable as God. Try it, if you don't believe it. Seek through the legislative halls of America and find, if you can, the Government. In the end you will be doomed to confer with the agent, as before.
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