I have always been of the mind that in a democracy manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie-knife.
James Russell LowellRead
It is only by instigation of the wrongs of men that what are called the Rights of Man become turbulent and dangerous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that human rights become problematic when people react to injustices.
James Russell Lowell highlights the paradox that the very concept of human rights can lead to turmoil and conflict when those rights are infringed upon. It implies that societal unrest often arises from people's responses to violations of their rights rather than from the rights themselves, emphasizing the delicate balance between rights and societal harmony.
Themes
RightsWrongsJusticeHuman RightsSocietyTurmoil
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one might quote this to discuss the consequences of injustice.
More from James Russell Lowell
All quotes βThe foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.
James Russell LowellRead
Not failure, but low aim, is crime.
James Russell LowellRead
Good luck is the willing handmaid of upright, energetic character, and conscientious observance of duty.
James Russell LowellRead
Puritanism, believing itself quick with the seed of religious liberty, laid, without knowing it, the egg of democracy.
James Russell LowellRead
Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.
James Russell LowellRead
Similar quotes
Surely a man needs a closed place wherein he may strike root and, like the seed, become. But also he needs the great Milky Way above him and the vast sea spaces, though neither stars nor ocean serve his daily needs.
Antoine De Saint-ExuperyRead
Blow the candle out, I don't need to see what my thoughts look like.
Emile ZolaRead
No charter of freedom will be worth looking at which does not ensure the same measure of freedom for the minorities as for the majority.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.
SocratesRead
I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.
Jonathan SwiftRead
The great divide is not between faiths, but one between intolerant zealots of any tradition and the large numbers of decent, peaceful believers likewise found in each tradition.
Nicholas KristofRead