We light the oven so that everyone may bake bread in it.
Freedoms, like privileges, prevail or are imperiled together You cannot harm or strive to achieve one without harming or furthering all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the interconnectedness of freedoms and privileges, suggesting that one cannot pursue or undermine any single freedom without affecting all others.
José Martí's quote illustrates the idea that freedoms and privileges are not isolated; they exist in a delicate balance and influence one another. Thus, it stresses the importance of protecting all forms of freedom, as attempts to undermine one can lead to the detriment of others. This recognition of interdependence calls for a collective responsibility in upholding and defending civil liberties in society, as the loss of one freedom inevitably threatens the stability of all.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for civil rights, this quote can highlight the necessity of protecting all liberties.
More from Jose Marti
All quotes →Like bones to the human body, the axle to the wheel, the wing to the bird, and the air to the wing, so is liberty the essence of life. Whatever is done without it is imperfect.
Men have no special right because they belong to one race or another: the word man defines all rights.
Other famous men, those of much talk and few deeds, soon evaporate. Action is the dignity of greatness.
Man is a living duty, a depository of powers that he must not leave in a brute state. Man is a wing.
Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them.
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Not even the lichen of the tundra is at peace. All is struggle, all is war for dominance. Those who lose, vanish. -And we’re no different you’re saying- We are, soldier. We possess the privilege of choice. The gift of foresight. Though often we come too late in acknowledging responsibilities….
Right now you can allow yourself to experience a very simple sense of not knowing - not knowing what or who you are, not knowing what this moment is, not knowing anything. If you give yourself this gift of not knowing and you follow it, a vast spaciousness and mysterious openness dawns within you. Relaxing into not knowing is almost like surrendering into a big, comfortable chair; you just fall into a field of possibility.