Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love.
Interpretation
Inaction in the face of injustice weakens our ability to stand up for ourselves and others.
This quote emphasizes the importance of taking action against injustice. By choosing to remain passive when witnessing wrongdoing, we not only allow the injustice to persist but also dull our own sense of justice and deprive ourselves of the ability to stand up for what is right, ultimately impacting our loved ones as well.
In practice
In a speech at a civil rights rally.
The greater the power, the more need there is for transparency, because if the power is abused, the result can be so enormous. On the other hand, those people who do not have power, we mustn't reduce their power even more by making them yet more transparent.
I saw that publishing all over the world was deeply constrained by self-censorship, economics and political censorship, while the military-industrial complex was growing at a tremendous rate, and the amount of information that it was collecting about all of us vastly exceeded the public imagination.
You can either be informed and your own rulers, or you can be ignorant and have someone else, who is not ignorant, rule over you.
The internet, our greatest tool of emancipation, has been transformed into the most dangerous facilitator of totalitarianism we have ever seen. The internet is a threat to human civilization.
I was a queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long.
You see, all that I ever held dear has been taken from me," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "And when you've lost everything-" Her facade began to crumble, and her voice broke, but she made herself carry on. "When you've lost everything, you've got nothing to lose.
There are men in the world who derive an exaltation from the proximity of disaster and ruin, as other from success.
I have always believed that resistance against repression and violence is possible without relying on similar repression and violence. I have always believed that human civilization is the fruit of the effort of both women and men.
We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the conquest and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid: None is at hand. We must now act or abandon all hope!
Looking back now, I realise that belonging to the family of a labourer actually helped to prepare my body for boxing. There were many times when my family didn't have enough food or warm clothing to go around. All this made me physically, as well as emotionally, tough.
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