I put one questions. For whom I compose? My answer is I wanted to address to all my people. And if I write music for the Greek people because I'm Greek, I compose for all the people.
Mikis TheodorakisRead
The established politicians, who before the war preached national pride and Christian love, were the first to collaborate with the Germans. But the communists, who as children we'd been taught to fear, kept a resistance movement alive, living and dying true to their ideals.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the hypocrisy of politicians who preach values but betray them, contrasting them with the integrity of those who resist oppression.
Mikis Theodorakis’s quote reflects on the moral failure of established politicians during wartime, who professed ideals of national pride and love yet chose collaboration with the enemy. In stark contrast, he praises the communists, portrayed as the 'other' during his upbringing, for their unwavering commitment to resistance and their ideals, symbolizing true patriotism and sacrifice.
Themes
PoliticsResistanceHypocrisyIntegrityWar
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about civic responsibility, one could reference this quote to illustrate the importance of standing true to one's values.
More from Mikis Theodorakis
All quotes →I've been uprooted. I don't think a tree that's been uprooted as a happy tree and I'm not very happy. I can't be. I do not accept to be.
Mikis TheodorakisRead
A man who goes to jail for his ideas is much freer than his keepers.
Mikis TheodorakisRead
Similar quotes
Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who posses it; and this I know, my lords: that where law ends, tyranny begins.
William PittRead
Election days come and go. But the struggle of the people to create a government which represents all of us and not just the one percent - a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice - that struggle continues.
Bernie SandersRead
NATO was constructed on the - with the reason, whether one believes it or not, that it was going to defend Western Europe from Russian assault. Once the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse, that reason was gone. So, first question: why does NATO exist?
Noam ChomskyRead
Trouble is, we call politics a game, but it isn't one. There is no referee, and the teams make up the rules as they go along. You can't cry foul or offside in politics. Almost anything goes.
Michael IgnatieffRead
Customs, traditions, laws should be flexible, within good reason, if that is what it takes to make our democracy work.
John LewisRead
The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.
Barack ObamaRead