We're always attracted to the edges of what we are, out by the edges where it's a little raw and nervy.
E. L. DoctorowRead
I am often asked the question How can the masses permit themselves to be exploited by the few. The answer is By being persuaded to identify with them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The masses may often support oppressive systems due to a misguided sense of identification with those in power.
E. L. Doctorow highlights a critical social observation about how the majority of people can fall victim to exploitation by a powerful minority. This exploitation occurs when individuals within the masses begin to identify with the values, desires, or perspectives of the elite, often at the expense of their own welfare. By aligning themselves psychologically with the interests of the few, the masses may willingly consent to their own subjugation without recognizing the manipulation at play.
Themes
ExploitationIdentityMassesPowerPerception
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about democracy, you could quote this to discuss the relationship between leadership and the public.
More from E. L. Doctorow
All quotes βOne of the things I had to learn as a writer was to trust the act of writing. To put myself in the position of writing to find out what I was writing.
E. L. DoctorowRead
In fiction, you know, there are no borders. You can go anywhere.
E. L. DoctorowRead
Books are acts of composition: you compose them. You make music: the music is called fiction.
E. L. DoctorowRead
We are all good friends. Friendship is what endures. Shared ideals, respect for the whole character of a human being.
E. L. DoctorowRead
I've known several cases of writers who decide to write about something and they research the hell out of it and when they're ready to write, they can't move because they are so burdened. I start writing. Whatever I need somehow comes to hand.
E. L. DoctorowRead
Similar quotes
The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being . . . a defender of the rights of the poor . . . a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society . . . that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history.
Oscar RomeroRead
Where is the Life we lost in living?
T. S. EliotRead
Organs, faculties, powers, capacities, or whatever else we call them; grow by use and diminish from disuse, it is inferred that they will continue to do so. And if this inference is unquestionable, then is the one above deduced from it-that humanity must in the end become completely adapted to its conditions-unquestionable also. Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity.
Herbert SpencerRead
The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well? You may say the wisest thing you can, old man, - you who have lived seventy years, not without honor of a kind, - I hear an irresistible voice which invites me away from all that.
Henry David ThoreauRead
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
At my funeral, if one said, 'Nick was a generous person,' trust me I won't be doing cartwheels in my coffin. Recognition from people is never and never will be a goal. Some people strive for that respect or honor. Living a life to just reach for the position and status is vanity and sin.
Nick VujicicRead