A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
Malcolm XRead
They attack the victim, and then the criminal who attacked the victim accuses the victim of attacking him. This is American justice. This is American democracy and those of you who are familiar with it know that in America democracy is hypocrisy. Now, if I’m wrong, put me in jail; but if you can’t prove that democracy is not hypocrisy, then don’t put your hands on me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Malcolm X critiques the hypocrisy he sees in American democracy, highlighting how victims are often blamed instead of the perpetrators.
In this quote, Malcolm X expresses a deep skepticism regarding American democracy, which he perceives as hypocritical. By illustrating a scenario where a victim is attacked and then blamed, he encapsulates the broader social injustices that challenge the foundational ideals of democracy and justice, questioning the authenticity of the system when it fails to protect the vulnerable.
Themes
HypocrisyDemocracyJusticeVictimCriminal
In practice
Example use cases
During a social justice rally to emphasize the hypocrisy in the legal system.
More from Malcolm X
All quotes →I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he's wrong, than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil.
Malcolm XRead
When you want a nation, that's called nationalism... Black nationalism. A revolutionary is a Black nationalist. He wants a nation.
Malcolm XRead
So over you is the greatest enemy a man can have — and that is fear. I know some of you are afraid to listen to the truth — you have been raised on fear and lies. But I am going to preach to you the truth until you are free of that fear...
Malcolm XRead
Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
Malcolm XRead
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.
Malcolm XRead
Similar quotes
The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers and won't tell.
William GoldingRead
People felt themselves watching him even before they knew that there was anything different about him. His eyes made a person think that he heard things that no one else had ever heard, that he knew things no one had ever guessed before. He did not seem quite human.
Carson MccullersRead
She is very clever, too clever for a woman. She lacks the indefinable charm of weakness.
Oscar WildeRead
Her future, she thought, was likely to be worse than her past, for after her years of contented renunciation, she had slipped back into desire and longing; she found joyless days of distasteful occupation harder and harder; she found the image of the intense and varied life she yearned for, and despaired of, becoming more and more importunate.
George EliotRead
It [feminism] is mixed up with a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
Given a choice between a folly and a sacrament, one should always choose the folly—because we know a sacrament will not bring us closer to god and there’s always the chance that a folly will.
Desiderius ErasmusRead