We live in a society of an imposed forgetfulness, a society that depends on public amnesia.
Angela DavisRead
Human beings cannot be willed and molded into non-existence.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the innate existence and resilience of human beings against attempts to erase their identity or agency.
Angela Davis's quote highlights the fundamental truth that human beings possess an inherent existence and autonomy that cannot simply be dismissed or erased. It underscores the idea that, despite societal pressures or oppressive forces that may attempt to suppress individuality or agency, the essence of humanity endures, representing a powerful statement about resilience, identity, and the human spirit.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of recognizing human rights and dignity.
We live in a society of an imposed forgetfulness, a society that depends on public amnesia.
Well, we see an increasingly weaker labor movement as a result of the overall assault on the labor movement and as a result of the globalization of capital.
Racism is a much more clandestine, much more hidden kind of phenomenon, but at the same time it's perhaps far more terrible than it's ever been.
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of our social problems.
It's true that it's within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues, which I think is good, although it's not going to solve the problems
Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'
Man stands alone in the universe, responsible for his condition, likely to remain in a lowly state, but free to reach above the stars.
Beautiful sentences pop into my head. Beautiful sentences that aren't always absolutely accurate. Then, I have to choose between the beautiful sentence and being absolutely accurate. It can be a difficult choice.
There are some who lack confidence in the integrity and capacity of the people to govern themselves. To all who entertain such fears I will most respectfully say that I entertain none. If man is not capable, and is not to be trusted with the government of himself, is he to be trusted with the government of others? Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man - for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.
The whole Turkish empire is nothing else but a crust cast by Heaven's great Housekeeper to His dogs.
Economic and military power can be developed under the spur of laws and appropriations. But moral power does not derive from any act of Congress. It depends on the relations of a people to their God. It is the churches to which we must look to develop the resources for the great moral offensive that is required to make human rights secure, and to win a just and lasting peace.
Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.
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