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oppression quotes

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“All oppression creates a state of war.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Hence I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people, and then penalize them for not being able to stand up under the weight.” Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has...” Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
“The masses never revolt of their own accord, and they never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed.” George Orwell, 1984
“Besides this, one cannot by fair dealing, and without injury to others, satisfy the nobles, but you can satisfy the people, for their object is more righteous than that of the nobles, the latter wishing to oppress, while the former only desire...” Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
“O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her—Europe...” Thomas Paine, Common Sense
“How can you thank a man for giving you what's already yours?” Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet
“This would be a hazardous life, and I would be apart from my family, but when a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.” George Orwell, 1984
“Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!” J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” George Orwell, 1984
“If it is said men oppress women, the husband reacts indignantly; he feels oppressed: he is; but in fact, it is the masculine code, the society developed by males and in their interest, that has defined the feminine condition in a form that is now...” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“Men are not corrupted by the exercise of power or debased by the habit of obedience, but by the exercise of a power which they believe to be illegal and by obedience to a rule which they consider to be usurped and oppressive.” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
“The same vicious circle can be found in all analogous circumstances: when an individual or a group of individuals is kept in a situation of inferiority, the fact is that he or they are inferior.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“If the oppressor uses violence, the oppressed have no alternative but to respond violently. In our case it was simply a legitimate form of self-defense.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“sometimes the people you oppress become mightier than you would like.” Veronica Roth, Insurgent
“Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind.” Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
“Immediate necessity makes many things convenient, which if continued would grow into oppressions. Expedience and right are different things.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense
“Old George Orwell got it backward. Big Brother isn't watching. He's singing and dancing. He's pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother's busy holding your attention every moment you're awake.” Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby
“At the present time, an oppressed member of the community has therefore only one method of self-defence—he may appeal to the whole nation; and if the whole nation is deaf to his complaint, he may appeal to mankind: the only means he has of...” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
“There will always be a great difference between subduing a multitude and ruling a society.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
“I am deeply touched by the sincere concern shown by so many people in this part of the world for the suffering of the people of Tibet. That is a source of hope not only for us Tibetans, but for all oppressed people.” 14th Dalai Lama, Nobel Lecture
“Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now . . . if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave.” Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
“Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison, a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Compensation
“The societies to which I have been exposed seemed to me largely machines for the suppression of women.” Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
“In four short months, our nation has comforted the victims, begun to rebuild New York and the Pentagon, rallied a great coalition, captured, arrested, and rid the world of thousands of terrorists, destroyed Afghanistan's terrorist training camps,...” George W. Bush, State of the Union Address

Related topics

society tyranny women rebellion corruption revolt freedom future violence attention slavery life giving power truth strength war mercy hope people

Related authors

Simone de Beauvoir (3)
George Orwell (3)
Nelson Mandela (2)
Thomas Paine (2)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (2)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1)
Alexis de Tocqueville (2)
Frederick Douglass (1)
Malcolm X (2)
J. K. Rowling (1)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1)
Cormac McCarthy (1)
Charles Dickens (1)
Chuck Palahniuk (1)
George W. Bush (1)
14th Dalai Lama (1)
Veronica Roth (1)
Niccolò Machiavelli (1)

Related sources

1984 (3)
The Second Sex (3)
Democracy in America (2)
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (2)
Long Walk to Freedom (2)
Common Sense (2)
Compensation (1)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1)
The Social Contract (1)
The Ballot or the Bullet (1)
The Prince (1)
State of the Union Address (1)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (1)
A Tale of Two Cities (1)
Insurgent (1)
Nobel Lecture (1)
Lullaby (1)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1)
All the Pretty Horses (1)