The more pressure you bring from without, the less internal pressure is necessary.
Oliver TamboRead
In South Africa, I feel I am a stranger, at best an animal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects feelings of alienation and dehumanization in one's own country.
Oliver Tambo's words express the profound sense of disconnection and marginalization that he felt as a person in South Africa, suggesting that, despite being of that land, he was treated as an outsider or less than human. This captures the struggles of identity and belonging in a socio-political context where one's existence is overshadowed by societal attitudes and systemic oppression.
Themes
AlienationIdentityDehumanizationBelongingSouth Africa
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech addressing issues of social justice, one might quote Tambo's reflection on identity.
More from Oliver Tambo
All quotes βThe sanctions will not kill us. It's apartheid that's killing us.
Oliver TamboRead
How do you deal with a criminal that will not listen to what you have to say and who continues his policy of violence? Some say you continue to talk and let him tire himself out. But nearly 40 years after the institution of apartheid, is there anyone who still believes that verbal persuasion will work?
Oliver TamboRead
The U.S. is the last country that should see itself as an ally of the apartheid system.
Oliver TamboRead
It was of limited usefulness to head great rallies. The government did not listen, and, soon enough, the tear gas and the muzzles of the guns were turned against the people. The justice of our cries went unrecognized.
Oliver TamboRead
It was becoming clear that, from being at the top at Holy Cross, we were at the bottom at St. Peter's. Objectively, this was very good, for it offered us a challenge and an opportunity to grow if we were ready to take it; and we surely were.
Oliver TamboRead
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I obviously don't feel under pressure to look young, because I have had no Botox or surgery. I don't judge people who choose to have it, but I don't want to erase who I am.
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I'd been taught from an early age that I was in the 'other' category on the standardized tests. You know, I had to go down the checklist - Caucasian, African-American, Latino, Asian-Pacific Islander, and then, you know, at the bottom is other. So, you know, very early on I was taught, in a way, that I was somehow this anomaly.
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Let us have compassion for those under chastisement. Alas, who are we ourselves? Who am I and who are you? Whence do we come and is it quite certain that we did nothing before we were born? This earth is not without some resemblance to a gaol. Who knows but that man is a victim of divine justice? Look closely at life. It is so constituted that one senses punishment everywhere.
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How do we remain faithful to our own spiritual imagination and not betray what we know in our own bodies? The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy.
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
Civilization is a progress from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity toward a definite, coherent heterogeneity.
Herbert SpencerRead