What is worse than having no sight is being able to see but having no vision.
Helen KellerRead
Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought. Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder. Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings. Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction. Be heroes in an army of construction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote urges individuals to oppose war and arms manufacturing, advocating for peace and constructive efforts instead.
Helen Keller's quote passionately highlights the importance of actively opposing war and the machinery of destruction. She emphasizes that individuals have the power to influence the course of humanity, urging them not to conform to a mindset that accept violence and defeat. Instead, Keller calls for people to embrace their role as builders of a better world, promoting peace and cooperation over conflict and death. By framing this choice as an act of heroism, she inspires a sense of moral responsibility in the face of war's devastation.
Themes
WarPeaceCourageConstructionDestructionHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for disarmament and peace initiatives.
More from Helen Keller
All quotes →What could be worse than being born without sight? Being born with sight and no vision.
Helen KellerRead
Knowledge is power." Rather, knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge - broad, deep knowledge - is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man's progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life.
Helen KellerRead
Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction. Be heroes in an army of construction.
Helen KellerRead
Our beloved ones have not 'gone to a far country.' It is only the veil of sense that separates them from us, and even that veil grows thin when our thoughts reach out to them.
Helen KellerRead
It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky. Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears.
Helen KellerRead
Similar quotes
It would be very, very dangerous for a wire walker to experience fear while he is balancing on the wire. Fear has its place on earth, before and maybe after a high-wire walk, but not during for me.
Philippe PetitRead
This is a great country and requires a good deal of all of us, so I can imagine nothing more important than for all of you to continue to work in public affairs and be interested in them, not only to bring up a family, but also give part of your time to your community, your state, and your country.
John F. KennedyRead
O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms, wherewith you could defend yourselves, are gone.
Patrick HenryRead
It is in the power of everybody, with a little courage, to hold out a hand to someone different, to listen, to attempt to increase, by even a tiny amount, the quantity of kindness and humanity in the world.
Theodore ZeldinRead
We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty.
Margaret ThatcherRead
That is not to say that we can relax our readiness to defend ourselves. Our armament must be adequate to the needs, but our faith is not primarily in these machines of defense but in ourselves.
Chester W. NimitzRead