QuoteProject
To tell a woman not to talk too much was like telling Jesse James not to carry a gun, or a hen not to cackle.
Malcolm X
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the natural expressions of personality and gender roles.

Malcolm X uses a vivid analogy to illustrate that telling a woman to limit her speech is as unreasonable as asking an outlaw not to carry his weapon or a hen to refrain from cackling. This highlights not only the inherent nature of women's communication but also challenges societal expectations that seek to silence them.

Themes

WomenSpeechNatureExpressionCommunication

In practice

Example use cases

In a conversation about gender dynamics, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of women's voices.

More from Malcolm X

A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
Malcolm XRead
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 β€” and that is fear. I know some of you are afraid to listen to the truth β€” 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

Meditate or spend silent time in nature with your partner. When going for a walk or sitting in the car or at home, become comfortable with being in stillness together. Stillness cannot and need not be created. Just be receptive to the stillness that is already there, but is usually obscured by mental noise.
Eckhart TolleRead
She had always been too wise to tell him all she thought and felt, knowing by some intuition of her own womanhood that no man wants to know everything of any woman.
Pearl S. BuckRead
If we're by ourselves we come to feel crazy and alone. We need to make alternate families of small groups of women who support each other, talk to each other regularly, can speak their truths and their experiences and find they're not alone in them, that other women have them, too ... It makes such a huge difference.
Gloria SteinemRead
Look around. And don't get close to people who make you suffer.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points. They're never total fits or misfits. In time, a pair invents its own commonwealth, complete with anthems, rituals, and lingos-a cult of two with fallible gods.
Diane AckermanRead
There's a whole world of people out here whose experiences are not being reflected in the media that they're reading. And that does affect the way we view ourselves... and the people we think we can be.
Noelle StevensonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Malcolm X | QuoteProject