We can't get at crime unless we know what language it speaks. Otherwise, we are just suppressing the cough, not curing the disease.
Greg BoyleRead
If there is a fundamental challenge within these stories, it is simply to change our lurking suspicion that some lives matter less than other lives.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing the equal value of all lives.
In this quote, Greg Boyle highlights the fundamental challenge of societal perceptions that lead to the belief that certain lives are less valuable than others. He urges a shift in perspective to acknowledge and respect the inherent dignity of every individual, advocating for a more compassionate and equitable view of humanity.
In practice
During a speech addressing social justice, the quote can be used to inspire unity and equality.
We can't get at crime unless we know what language it speaks. Otherwise, we are just suppressing the cough, not curing the disease.
Relapse happens, especially when you're dealing with folks who are frankly the least likely to succeed based on their own pasts and difficulties. We can work with the most likely to succeed. I'm not interested in that.
We ought not to demonize a single gang member, and we ought not to romanticize a single gang.
Anyone who knows gangs knows that lawmakers cannot conceive of a law that would lead a hard-core gang member to 'think twice.'
Homeboy Industries has chosen to stand with the 'demonized' so that the demonizing will stop; it stands with the 'disposable' so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away.
The idea that any law enforcement agency or person would ever know these gang members better than Homeboy Industries is impossible.
All I want is' - and he uttered the final words through clenched teeth and with a sort of shame - 'to retain my freedom.' I should myself have thought,' said Jacques, 'that freedom consisted in frankly confronting situations into which one had deliberately entered, and accepting all one's responsibilities. But that, no doubt, is not your view.
Language is the mother of thought, not its handmaiden.
If everybody minded their own business... the world would go round a deal faster than it does.
With the strength of his spiritual sight and insight the distance, and as it were the space, around man continually expands: his world grows deeper, ever new stars, ever new images and enigmas come into view.
The full meaning of life, the collective meaning of all human desires, is fundamentally a mystery beyond our grasp. As a young man, I chafed at this state of affairs. But by now I have made peace with it. I even feel a certain honor to be associated with such a mystery.
Call your opinions your creed, and you will change it every week.
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