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Human Rights Activists Quotes

Browse 16 quotes about Human Rights Activists.

Human Rights Activists Quotes

“To say nothing is saying something. You must denounce things you are against or one might believe that you support things you really do not.”

“You are the knights of Naskar - you have no relation with segregation - you have no attachment to bigotry - you have no allegiance to any ideology - the only allegiance that you have is not to me, not to any scripture, not to any school of thought, but to the humankind and humankind alone.”

“Happy belated 4th of July to the Americans July 2, 1776, was meant for. Not the American's; some of whom's ancestors fought for the British against a nation that DIDN'T then, COULDN'T after The Emancipation Proclamation, and still CAN'T seem to recognize our basic human rights.”

“If I Must Die (The Sonnet) I have no desire to die as just, Another writer like that bard fella. If I must die as a writer, I will die as, The first multi-cultural writer en historia. I have no desire to die as just, Another founder of a sect or nation. If I must die as something, I'll die as, One of the founders of human unification. I have no desire to die as just another, Coldhearted scientist or pompous philosopher. If I must die as a scientist and philosopher, I'll die as the one who made love truth's driver. But above all that, I have no desire to die, period. Cowards die, whereas I, am already martyred.”

“The truck takes off again on Jalan 15 Oktober, in a cloud of dust, papers and tatters. A half-naked boy, coming out of nowhere, waves at us as if nothing had happened. For a moment, it almost feels like life could go on, just as it always does. But that’s not the case. There’s no time for life here anymore.”

“We are woken gently at three in the morning and told that we need to leave. Guided by the light of the stars rather than the moon, we walk for half an hour before we reach a hut. We can just about make out the presence of three men inside, but it's almost as dark as the balaclavas that hide their faces. In the identikit released by the Mexican government, Marcos was de-scribed as a professor with a degree in philosophy who wrote a thesis on Althusser and did a Master's at Paris-Sorbonne Univer-sity. A voice initially speaking French breaks the silence: “We’ve got twenty minutes. I prefer to speak Spanish if that’s OK. I’m Subcomandante Marcos.”

“My soldiers are not to crave for solitude and serenity, they are not to sit in a cave and meditate for eternity seeking enlightenment, they are to rise, fall, learn and burn in bringing smiles on teary faces.”

“It is only with the setting of the sun that one can judge how well the day had gone. Looking back through the vista of time, I can analyse and assess why I fought hard for my right to say no to joining the Baath Party, why I took that first step towards requesting respect for human rights. But it is important to stress this: Up against a task larger than oneself, one has to overcome one's fear.”

“There are too many people working to better the lives of those who already have more than they need, yet those who are in need of real help spend each day with no hope or help to speak of - why my friend - why - they are waiting for you - they are wailing for you - don't you hear them - don't you hear their tears dropping on the lifeless soil beneath their feet! You worry about philosophical questions like, if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound - yet you pay no attention to real questions of life and death that actually require your intervention more than any philosophical question in the world! Why - I ask you again - why - why is it that philosophy, technology and argumentation have more grip over your psyche than the actual troubles of the people! Don't answer me - just think - think and when you have thought enough, shred all shallow philosophical pomp and rush right away to the helpless, the forgotten, the destitute as the real, practical answer to their life.”

“I am the essence of determination - I am speculation, aspiration, the spirit of ascension - I am the peace call of evolution - I am togetherness itself sisters and brothers - I am life, I am breath, I am humanite, a human dynamite that destroys every inhumanity that crosses its path.”