Never to get lost is not to live, not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction.
Rebecca SolnitRead
I'm grateful that, after an early life of being silenced, sometimes violently, I grew up to have a voice, circumstances that will always bind me to the rights of the voiceless.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses gratitude for finding one's voice after experiencing oppression and emphasizes the importance of advocating for those without a voice.
Rebecca Solnit reflects on her journey from being silenced in her early life to ultimately giving her voice to advocate for the rights of others who cannot speak for themselves. The quote highlights the strength that comes from overcoming adversity and the responsibility that accompanies having a voice, suggesting that those who have been empowered have a duty to stand up for those who are still oppressed.
Themes
VoiceAdvocacyGratitudeOppressionRights
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, I would say, 'As Solnit wisely noted, I'm grateful that I have a voice to advocate for the voiceless.'
More from Rebecca Solnit
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The object we call a book is not the real book, but its potential, like a musical score or seed. It exists fully only in the act of being read; and its real home is inside the head of the reader, where the symphony resounds, the seed germinates. A book is a heart that only beats in the chest of another.
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Cities have always offered anonymity, variety, and conjunction, qualities best basked in by walking: one does not have to go into the bakery or the fortune-teller's, only to know that one might. A city always contains more than any inhabitant can know, and a great city always makes the unknown and the possible spurs to the imagination.
Rebecca SolnitRead
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