After the Tiananmen Massacre, I felt compelled not only to continue writing but to actively resist the restrictions placed on freedom of speech. I set up the publishing company in Hong Kong, with offices in Shenzhen in mainland China, and managed to publish works of fiction, philosophy, and politics by unapproved authors.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the importance of standing up for freedom of expression even in the face of oppression.
Ma Jian's quote highlights the resilience and determination to uphold freedom of speech despite the brutal repression experienced during the Tiananmen Massacre. His decision to establish a publishing company in Hong Kong, aimed at providing a platform for unapproved authors, signifies a courageous commitment to promote diverse voices and ideas in the face of governmental censorship.
In practice
In a public lecture on the importance of free speech.
To become self-aware, people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their own minds. They must be allowed to say, write and publish whatever they want. Freedom of expression is the most basic, but fundamental, right. Without it, human beings are reduced to automatons.
Before the counter-culture revolutionary Li Lian was executed in 1971 for criticising the Cultural Revolution, pour policemen pushed her face against the window of a truck, lifted her shirt and cut out her kidneys with a surgical knife,’ Mau Sen said, his face stony and white. ‘I think that removing the organs of convicts while they are still alive is too much. It completely contravenes medical ethics.’ ‘This is a dissection class, not a political meeting,’ Sun Chunlin said.
Boxing is the ultimate challenge. There's nothing that can compare to testing yourself the way you do every time you step in the ring. On the downside, you meet a lot of really bad people in boxing, at all stages of your career.
Joe Frazier got hit more than me - and he doesn't have Parkinson's.
Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others. Give me a believing heart to cast all burdens upon Thee, O Lord.
When you flip anything, you really you just have to have the courage of your convictions.
Some people are walking around with full use of their bodies and they're more paralyzed than I am.
Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else.
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