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Privilege (to the privileged) means having private laws.
Terry Pratchett
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Privilege allows certain individuals to operate under their own rules, often exempt from the common laws that apply to everyone else.

Terry Pratchett's quote highlights the concept of privilege as a distinct separation in how laws and social rules apply to people of different statuses. It suggests that those in privileged positions often create a set of 'private laws' that prevent them from facing the same consequences as others, thus questioning the fairness and equality of societal structures.

Themes

PrivilegeLawsInequalitySocietyJustice

In practice

Example use cases

During a social justice seminar to illustrate systemic privilege.

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And then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.
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Quote by Terry Pratchett | QuoteProject