I am forced to get my living by the labour of my hand; and the sweat of my brow... for bitter bread, earned under the frowns of some who have no natural or divine right to be above me, and entirely owe their grandeur and honor to grinding the faces of the poor.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the struggle of the working class and critiques the societal structures that privilege the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
James Otis's quote encapsulates the plight of workers who toil tirelessly yet receive little recognition or reward compared to those in power who benefit from their labor. It emphasizes the injustice faced by the labor force, as their hard work is often taken for granted and exploited by the privileged elite, who owe their status to the oppression of the poor. This sentiment highlights the need for social equity and a reevaluation of the societal hierarchies that perpetuate inequality.
In practice
This quote is powerful for a labor rights speech advocating for fair wages.
There can be no prescription old enough to supersede the Law of Nature and the grant of God Almighty, who has given to all men a natural right to be free, and they have it ordinarily in their power to make themselves so, if they please.
I will to my dying day oppose with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand, and villainy on the other, as this writ of assistance is.
If we are not represented, we are slaves.
Now, one of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one's house.
It is a clear truth that those who every day barter away other men's liberty will soon care little for their own.
An act against the Constitution is void; an act against natural equity is void.
Backward we traveled to reclaim the day Before we fell, like Icarus, undone; All we find are altars in decay And profane words scrawled black across the sun.
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work- I am the grass; I cover all. And pile them high at Gettysburg. And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years,and passengers ask the conductor- What place is this? Where are we now? I am the grass. Let me work.
I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity.
Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.
There is thy gold, worse poison to men's souls, Doing more murder in this loathsome world, Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell.
Neither genius, fame, nor love show the greatness of the soul. Only kindness can do that.
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