If people have to put labels on me, I'd prefer the first label to be human being, the second label to be pacifist, and the third to be folk singer.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of identity beyond societal labels, focusing on fundamental humanity.
Joan Baez expresses a desire for her identity to be rooted in her humanity rather than any superficial labels society might place on her. By prioritizing her identity as a 'human being', she highlights the universal qualities that unite all people, while the secondary labels of 'pacifist' and 'folk singer' reflect her values and passions, promoting peace and art.
In practice
In a speech about self-identity, this quote can emphasize the significance of how we define ourselves.
I would say that I'm a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you...because no one has the right to take the life of another human being.
The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one.
The hardest song to write is a protest song, a topical song with meaning.
That's all nonviolence is - organized love.
To sing is to love and affirm, _x000D_ to fly and to soar, _x000D_ to coast into the hearts of the people _x000D_ who listen _x000D_ to tell them that life is to live, _x000D_ that love is there, _x000D_ that nothing is a promise, _x000D_ but that beauty exists, _x000D_ and must be hunted for and found.
The foundation of my beliefs is the same as it was when I was 10. Non-violence.
Each minute of life should be a divine quest.
It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.
It is always easy to be logical. It is almost impossible to be logical to the bitter end.
What then in the last resort are the truths of mankind? They are the irrefutable errors of mankind.
When we talk about our lives, long or short, brief and tragic or enduring beyond comprehension, we impose a continuity on them, and that continuity is a lie.
The white man is not inherently evil, but America's racist society influences him to act evilly. The society has produced and nourishes a psychology which brings out the lowest, most base part of human beings.
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