I want to say to you who think women cannot succeed, we have brought the government of England to this position, that it has to face this alternative: either women are to be killed or women are to have the vote.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
Governments have always tried to crush reform movements, to destroy ideas, to kill the thing that cannot die. Without regard to history, which shows that no Government have ever succeeded in doing this, they go on trying in the old, senseless way.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Governments often attempt to suppress reform movements and new ideas, but history shows they inevitably fail.
Emmeline Pankhurst's quote highlights the futile efforts of governments to suppress reform movements and ideas that strive for change. Despite their attempts to maintain the status quo, historical evidence demonstrates that such efforts are ultimately unsuccessful, as the desire for progress and reform is a persistent force that cannot be extinguished.
Themes
GovernmentReformIdeasChangeHistory
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a speech advocating for social justice reforms.
More from Emmeline Pankhurst
All quotes →The whole argument with the anti-suffragists, or even the critical suffragist man, is this: that you can govern human beings without their consent.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
Solitary confinement is too terrible a punishment to inflict on any human being, no matter what his crime. Hardened criminals in the men's prisons, it is said, often beg for the lash instead.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
Justice and judgment lie often a world apart.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
You must make women count as much as men; you must have an equal standard of morals; and the only way to enforce that is through giving women political power so that you can get that equal moral standard registered in the laws of the country. It is the only way.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else, in fact you have to be there all the time and see that they do not snow you under.
Emmeline PankhurstRead
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