You put a tattoo on yourself with the knowledge that this body is yours to have and enjoy while you're here. You have fun with it, and nobody else can control (supposedly) what you do with it. That's why tattooing is such a big thing in prison: it's an expression of freedom—one of the only expressions of freedom there. They can lock you down, control everything, but 'I've got my mind, and I can tattoo my body—alter it my way as an act of personal will.'
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes personal freedom and self-expression through tattooing, particularly in restrictive environments like prison.
Don Ed Hardy's quote explores the concept of body art as a powerful form of self-expression and autonomy, especially in places where one's freedoms are curtailed. Tattoos symbolize an individual's control over their own body, providing a sense of agency and identity despite external constraints. In contexts like prison, where personal liberties are limited, the act of tattooing becomes a significant declaration of personal will and an assertion of the self.
In practice
During a speech about personal freedoms, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of self-expression.
Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion?
Not far from here where we gather today is a symbol of freedom familiar to all Americans -- the Liberty Bell. When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public, the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, and a witness said: "It rang as if it meant something."
If you allow one single germ, one single seed of slavery to remain in the soil of America... that germ will spring up, that noxious weed will thrive, and again stifle the growth, wither the leaves, blast the flowers and poison the fair fruits of freedom.
Now that we are poor, we are free. No white man controls our footsteps.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
It's certainly not too late to change to the winning side. But you know, you also have the freedom to stay just where you are. That's what it means to be an American. That's the miracle of America. Freedom to believe means the freedom to believe the wrong thing, after all. Just as freedom of speech gives you the right to stay silent.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.