Blow the candle out, I don't need to see what my thoughts look like.
Emile ZolaRead
If something's just, I'll let myself be hacked to bits for it.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of fighting for justice, even at great personal cost.
Emile Zola's quote reflects a profound commitment to justice and the readiness to endure severe consequences for the principles of fairness and morality. By stating he would 'let myself be hacked to bits,' Zola powerfully conveys the idea that true justice may require significant sacrifice, reflecting a courageous stand against wrongdoing, even when it poses a personal risk. This dedication highlights the moral responsibility individuals have to advocate for what is right, regardless of the potential fallout.
In practice
During a speech at a protest rally advocating for equality.
Blow the candle out, I don't need to see what my thoughts look like.
I believe that all is illusion and vanity outside the treasure of truths slowly accumulated, and which will never again be lost. I believe that the sum of these truths, always increasing, will at last confer on man incalculable power and peace, if not happiness. Yes, I believe in the final triumph of life.
A ruined man fell from her hands like a ripe fruit, to lie rotting on the ground.
Oh, the fools, like a lot of good little schoolboys, scared to death of anything they've been taught is wrong!
Did not one spend the first half of one's days in dreams of happiness and the second half in regrets and terrors?
They dared not peer down into their own natures, down into the feverish confusion that filled their minds with a kind of dense, acrid mist.
One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world will be better for this.
They forbade me from flying, despite all my protests and arguments. After being once in space, I was desperately keen to go back there. But it didn't happen.
I'm scared every time I go into the ring, but it's how you handle it. What you have to do is plant your feet, bite down on your mouthpiece and say, 'Let's go.'
It is not easy to stand up against your constituents or your friends or colleagues or your community and take a tough stand for something you believe is right. Because you always want to keep working and live to fight another battle and it might cost you your career.
In 1960, when I graduated from college, people told me a woman couldn't go to law school. And when I graduated from law school, people told me, 'Law firms won't hire you.'
Hogwarts is threatened!β shouted Professor McGonagall. βMan the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.