We light the oven so that everyone may bake bread in it.
The vote is a trust more delicate than any other, for it involves not just the interests of the voter, but his life, honor and future as well.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Voting is a significant responsibility that affects not just individual interests but also one's dignity and future.
This quote emphasizes the profound significance of the act of voting. Jose Marti highlights that voting is not merely a right or duty, but a trust that carries immense weight and consequences, as it influences not only the individual's immediate concerns but also their life trajectory, personal honor, and future opportunities. Thus, it reflects the grave responsibility voters bear in choosing representatives and policies that will shape their society.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a rally promoting civic engagement, this quote can inspire attendees to recognize the importance of their votes.
More from Jose Marti
All quotes βLike bones to the human body, the axle to the wheel, the wing to the bird, and the air to the wing, so is liberty the essence of life. Whatever is done without it is imperfect.
Men have no special right because they belong to one race or another: the word man defines all rights.
Other famous men, those of much talk and few deeds, soon evaporate. Action is the dignity of greatness.
Man is a living duty, a depository of powers that he must not leave in a brute state. Man is a wing.
Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or hinder them, but impossible to stop them.
Similar quotes
Government can do something for the people only in proportion as it can do something to the people.
It is time we had democratic socialism for working families, not just Wall Street billionaires.
That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black, and a woman proves, I would think, that our society is not yet either just or free.
If politicians stopped meddling with things they don't understand, there would be a more drastic reduction in the size of government than anyone in either party advocates.
Lifting the veil of secrecy that shrouds police misconduct allegations would seem like an obvious democratic value. After all, if police work for the people, should they not be answerable to the people, as well? This is a basic tenet of good government.
Anti-U.S. sentiment has been born out of many grievances - support and weapons for such dictators as Mubarak, unquestionable support for Israel in its occupation of Palestine, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen that kill more civilians than intended targets.