If somebody's trying to shut you up, sing louder, and if possible, better.
Interpretation
The quote encourages individuals to express themselves more boldly in the face of oppression.
This quote by Salman Rushdie emphasizes the importance of resilience and self-expression when confronted with attempts to silence or suppress one's voice. It suggests that rather than being intimidated or silenced, one should respond with even greater confidence and skill, using one's talents as a way to assert individuality and courage in the face of adversity.
In practice
During a protest for freedom of speech, one might use this quote to inspire others to raise their voices.
I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.
Killing people because you don't like their ideas - it's a bad thing.
faith without doubt is addiction
I am clearly vulnerable to these more passionate and volatile unstable relationships. I am trying to not be so vulnerable.
In India, as elsewhere in our darkening world, religion is the poison in the blood. Where religion intervenes, mere innocence is no excuse. Yet we go on skating around this issue, speaking of religion in the fashionable language of 'respect.' What is there to respect in any of this, or in any of the crimes now being committed almost daily around the world in religion's dreaded name?
Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.
The best jihad is to speak a word of justice to an oppressive ruler.
The action of Rosa Parks, the words and leadership of Dr. King inspired me. I was deeply inspired. I wanted to do something.
A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.
Look, I would say that anyone who does this work and doesn't have a strain of idealism is an adrenaline junkie or completely narcissistic. There is no other justification. You're risking your life, and if anything happens, it's our families who suffer tremendously.
And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.
Real men despise battle, but will never run from it.
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