I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.
Doris LessingRead
Very few people really care about freedom, about liberty, about the truth, very few. Very few people have guts, the kind of guts on which a real democracy has to depend. Without people with that sort of guts a free society dies or cannot be born.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the rarity of individuals who truly value freedom and courage, which are essential for a functioning democracy.
Doris Lessing emphasizes that a true democratic society relies on individuals who possess the courage and determination to uphold freedom and truth. She suggests that without such individuals, a democracy cannot thrive, and society will struggle to achieve or maintain its liberty. This reflection on human nature and civic responsibility calls attention to the pressing need for individuals who are willing to stand up for their beliefs and fight for the principles that sustain democratic ideals.
Themes
FreedomDemocracyCourageTruthSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech advocating for civil rights, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of standing up for liberty.
More from Doris Lessing
All quotes →In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. I myself think a great deal before I go to sleep and the details sometimes unfold in the dream.
Doris LessingRead
Humanity's legacy of stories and storytelling is the most precious we have. All wisdom is in our stories and songs. A story is how we construct our experiences. At the very simplest, it can be: 'He/she was born, lived, died.' Probably that is the template of our stories - a beginning, middle, and end. This structure is in our minds.
Doris LessingRead
There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them.
Doris LessingRead
The World War I, I'm a child of World War I. And I really know about the children of war. Because both my parents were both badly damaged by the war. My father, physically, and both mentally and emotionally. So, I know exactly what it's like to be brought up in an atmosphere of a continual harping on the war.
Doris LessingRead
You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn't care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can't be a way of life - the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.
Doris LessingRead
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