I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.
Free societies...are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension, dissent, friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom's existence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Freedom in society inherently brings conflict and disagreement, which are signs of a vibrant, free existence.
In free societies, the dynamic nature of individual expression and differing opinions creates a lively environment filled with tension and dissent. This friction is not a negative aspect; rather, it indicates the presence of freedom and the ability of individuals to express themselves, which is fundamental to a healthy and functioning society. The 'sparks' generated by these interactions highlight the existence of freedom and its impact on societal progress.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of free expression in democratic societies.
More from Salman Rushdie
All quotes βKilling people because you don't like their ideas - it's a bad thing.
faith without doubt is addiction
I am clearly vulnerable to these more passionate and volatile unstable relationships. I am trying to not be so vulnerable.
In India, as elsewhere in our darkening world, religion is the poison in the blood. Where religion intervenes, mere innocence is no excuse. Yet we go on skating around this issue, speaking of religion in the fashionable language of 'respect.' What is there to respect in any of this, or in any of the crimes now being committed almost daily around the world in religion's dreaded name?
Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.
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Dear friends, let us not forget the flesh of Christ which is in the flesh of refugees: their flesh is the flesh of Christ. It is also your task to direct all the institutions working in the area of forced migration to new forms of co-responsibility. This phenomenon is unfortunately constantly spreading. Hence your task is increasingly demanding in order to promote tangible responses of closeness, journeying with people, taking into account the different local backgrounds.
Optimists and pessimists die the exact same death, but they live very different lives!
. . .sometimes one feels freer speaking to a stranger than to people one knows. Why is that?" βProbably because a stranger sees us the way we are, not as he wishes to think we are.
Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.