Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored
Alice WalkerRead
Women have to be extremely careful about choosing something that they consider an act of defiance that can really be used to further their enslavement.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of critical choice in actions that might seem rebellious but could lead to further subjugation.
Alice Walker's quote reflects the complexity of choices available to women, particularly in the context of societal expectations and feminist struggles. It warns that what might appear as an act of defiance could ironically reinforce their oppression if not thoughtfully considered. Thus, it highlights the need for awareness and deliberate decision-making in the pursuit of freedom and empowerment.
Themes
ChoiceFreedomDefianceGenderOppression
In practice
Example use cases
During a women's rights seminar, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of mindful activism.
More from Alice Walker
All quotes →June Jordan, who died of cancer in 2002, was a brilliant, fierce, radical, and frequently furious poet. We were friends for thirty years. Not once in that time did she step back from what was transpiring politically and morally in the world. She spoke up, and led her students, whom she adored, to do the same.
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On a spiritual level, it's as though with my sighted eye I see what's before me, and with my unsighted eye I see what's hidden. It's illuminated life more than darkened it.
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I think 'The Color Purple' is so bursting with love, the need for connection, the showing of the need for connection around the globe.
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How long will it take the citizens of the United States, one wonders, to recognize that the house their country bombed in Iraq is the same one they were living in until it was foreclosed?
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One white man on the platform in South Carolina asked us where we were going--we had got off the train to get some fresh air and to dust the grit and dust out of our clothes. When we said Africa he looked offended and tickled too. Niggers going to Africa, he said to his wife. Now I have seen everything.
Alice WalkerRead
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I lapsed into my pathetic cut-off period. Often with humans, both good and bad, my senses simply shut off, they get tired, I give up. I am polite. I nod. I pretend to understand because I don’t want anybody to be hurt. That is the one weakness that has lead me into the most trouble. Trying to be kind to others I often get my soul shredded into a kind of spiritual pasta. No matter. My brain shuts off. I listen. I respond. And they are too dumb to know that I am not there.
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