It seems that fighting is a game where everybody is the loser.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Lack of power and opportunity passes off too often for virtue.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The absence of power or opportunity is frequently mistaken for moral integrity.
In this quote, Zora Neale Hurston suggests that those who lack the means or chances to act may be viewed as virtuous or morally superior, even though their situation may simply stem from a lack of opportunity rather than a conscious choice of virtue. This highlights the complex relationship between power, opportunity, and moral judgment, suggesting that we often misinterpret circumstances as character traits.
Themes
PowerOpportunityVirtueCharacterMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social justice, this quote can emphasize the importance of providing equitable opportunities to all individuals.
More from Zora Neale Hurston
All quotes →From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom…It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
There is no single face in nature, because every eye that looks upon it, sees it from its own angle. So every man's spice-box seasons his own food.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
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