We live in a society of an imposed forgetfulness, a society that depends on public amnesia.
Angela DavisRead
The work of the political activist inevitably involves a certain tension between the requirement that position be taken on current issues as they arise and the desire that one's contributions will somehow survive the ravages of time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Activism requires a balance between urgent action and the hope for lasting impact.
Angela Davis highlights the inherent tension that political activists face: the need to respond to immediate issues while also striving for a legacy that withstands the test of time. This duality requires not only passion and urgency but also foresight and reflection on how one's actions will resonate in the future.
Themes
ActivismPoliticsLegacyTimeTension
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of civic engagement and the need for activists to think beyond immediate issues.
More from Angela Davis
All quotes →Well, we see an increasingly weaker labor movement as a result of the overall assault on the labor movement and as a result of the globalization of capital.
Angela DavisRead
Racism is a much more clandestine, much more hidden kind of phenomenon, but at the same time it's perhaps far more terrible than it's ever been.
Angela DavisRead
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of our social problems.
Angela DavisRead
It's true that it's within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues, which I think is good, although it's not going to solve the problems
Angela DavisRead
Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'
Angela DavisRead
Similar quotes
I learned that fighting on the chess board could also have an impact on the political climate in the country.
Garry KasparovRead
Transparency concerning the Federal Reserve's conduct of monetary policy is desirable because better public understanding enhances the effectiveness of policy. More important, however, is that transparent communications reflect the Federal Reserve's commitment to accountability within our democratic system of government.
Janet YellenRead
A properly functioning democracy depends on an informed electorate.
Thomas JeffersonRead
You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again: Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again... my asset values will disappear, my apartments will be worth a fraction of what they were, my ministers' jobs will be in peril, their security will be at risk and their women will become maids in other people's countries, foreign workers.
Lee Kuan YewRead
The very first time a politician puts you in his target is sometimes a disappointment, because perhaps you thought you were friends and getting along well... But it is not something that you dwelled on. At least, I did not.
Walter CronkiteRead
There is no sea more dangerous than the ocean of practical politics none in which there is more need of good pilotage and of a single, unfaltering purpose when the waves rise high.
Thomas HuxleyRead