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Oppression Quotes

Browse 1520 quotes about Oppression.

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Oppression Quotes

“Civilization is built by heroes, who trample all fears under their feet and speak out to the world - I am free, I am immortal, I am indestructible - come all ye who have no home, I'll be your home - come all ye who cannot speak, I'll be your voice - come all ye who cannot stand, I'll be your legs - come all ye oppressed, tormented and discriminated - hold my hand and together we'll build the world, the humane way this time.”

AcceptanceCivilizationPrejudiceSocial JusticeHumanismHumanitarianDiscriminationOppressionHumanistAssimilation
Book:Servitude is Sanctitude
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“We aren't human." "Yes. We. Are." His voice turns fierce. "I don't give a shit what the something-somethingth council of big important farts decreed, or how the geomests classify things, or any of that. That we're not human is just the lie they tell themselves so they don't have to feel bad about how they treat us.”

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Book:The Fifth Season
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“Whereas the violence of the oppressors prevents the oppressed from being fully human, the response of the latter to this violence is grounded in the desire to pursue the right to be human. As the oppressors dehumanize others and violate their rights, they themselves also become dehumanized. As the oppressed, fighting to be human, take away the oppressors' power to dominate and suppress, they restore to the oppressors the humanity they had lost in the exercise of oppression.”

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Book:Pedagogy of the Oppressed
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“Being nice is often about avoiding conflict, letting inappropriate actions slide, or bottling up words and actions that ought to be spoken and enacted to prevent creating an uncomfortable scene. At its worst, being nice reinforces actions and attitudes that strip away human dignity.”

RelationshipsKindnessOppressionCivilityNicenessBe NiceConflict And InequalityConflict Avoidance
Book:In Defense of Kindness: Why It Matters, How It Changes Our Lives, and How It Can Save the World
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“Doesn't it feel like that? Like a chronic illness? Like every day you wake up and it's the same oppressive regime trying to go back to a truly savage time when only white male royalty and gentry were seen as people, as worthy of recognition and representation? Look at them, trying to change the laws, trying to placate a madman king, weaponizing against us not just the justice system, but the entire government, abusing it, bleeding it dry, weaponizing the government against itself. Like a curse. I'll name it. CURS: Chronic Under-Representation Syndrome. The curse this country was ostensibly founded to get beyond, the curse our forefathers came here to get away from, the curse of which so many have tried with marches and movements and music and more to break the spell. We must break the spell.”

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Author:Shellen Lubin
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“We are blessed when our loved ones know what they have long before they lose us. It’s the same with people. If they are taken for granted long enough, they can be oppressed to the point that they never experience the joys of life. Life on earth becomes a disappointment for them and Heaven becomes their goal. On the other hand, if they are loved and encouraged and appreciated, they will find all kinds of reasons to keep on living! It is never too late to help someone to see that they are valuable and wanted upon the earth.”

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Book:Jack McAfghan: Return from Rainbow Bridge: A Dog's Afterlife Story of Loss, Love and Renewal
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“It is the way that it weighs on the human spirit that leads many to self-destruct. I could not help but to connect the pain that they were experiencing to my own.”

RelationshipsCompassionEmpathyAddictionOppressionSociologySocial Development
Book:We Want for Our Sisters What We Want for Ourselves: Polygyny: A Relationship, Marriage and Family Alternative
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“All religions, in their pure form, will tell you God is Love. And power, fear, division, judgment, oppression, hatred and self-righteousness are the opposite of Love. So going to war, for example, in the name of religion, is a complete contradiction. No pure religious leader would ever support this.”

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Author:The Truth AD Infinitum
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“By saying that human issues are more important than non-human issues, that violence to humans is more relevant than violence to animals, one forgets that the animal liberation movement implies a message of peace for every being on earth and the opposition against the mindset of oppression. To make a distinction between one violence and another is exactly the root of all violence: Some wouldn't do any harm to those who share with them a flag, a religion, a language, etc. but would easily condemn to suffering and death those who are different. This tragic use of diversity as an excuse to inflict pain on others for a matter of profit and convenience is the cause of suffering for both human and non-human animals.”

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Book:The Eden Fruitarian Guidebook
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“Just like freedom, Truth is not cheap. Yet both are worth more than all the gold in the world. But what is freedom, if there is no truth? And what is truth, if there is no freedom? Both are worth fighting for — because one without the other would be hell.”

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Book:Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
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“America didn’t start burning right now, and it is not burning because Black people are 'overreacting' or committing 'violence'. America has always been burning for many people. If you haven’t felt that America has always been burning, then you are – consciously or unconsciously – part of the structural, systemic, and calculated racism and marginalization committed against Blacks and other marginalized people in America. If you haven’t always felt that America was burning, you are part of the problem and you may want to consider joining the camp of those looking for solution to put an end to this nightmarish reality.”

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Author:Louis Yako
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“As women, we have been taught either to ignore our differences, or to view them as causes for separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change. Without community there is no liberation, only the most vulnerable and temporary armistice between an individual and her oppression. But community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.”

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Book:Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
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“That's one of the great problems of our modern world, you know. Forgetting. The victim never forgets. Ask an Irishman what the English did to him in 1920 and he'll tell you the day of the month and the time and the name of every man they killed. Ask an Iranian what the English did to him in 1953 and he'll tell you. His child will tell you. His grandchild will tell you too. But ask an Englishman -- if he ever knew, he has forgotten. 'Move on!' you tell us. 'Move on! Forget what we've done to you. Tomorrow's another day!' But it isn't, Mr. Brue. Tomorrow was created yesterday, you see. That's the point I was making to you. And the day before yesterday, too. To ignore history is to ignore the wolf at the door.”

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Book:A Most Wanted Man
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“With all this hoarding, alarm, deceit, lack of information, plethora of disinformation, ambiguity, and confusion, I wonder whether it is time for us to start drafting a post-coronavirus manifesto? Perhaps it should contain all the things we don’t want the world to become after this pandemic is over. There are many alienating powers out there that thrived on keeping us quarantined, at distance, and distrustful of each other way before COVID-19. There are systems that thrive on our loneliness and fear. There are institutions dedicated to make sure that we don’t help each other so that we turn to them for help… Let’s not allow them to get their way once this pandemic is over! Let’s make sure that we create a world in which such blood suckers are not needed in the first place. Oh, my friends, let’s beware of the ways disaster capitalism is using the pandemic for its benefit.”

LonelinessDestructionOppressionCovid 19Human ConditionPandemicExploitationDisaster Capitalism
Author:Louis Yako
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“A society is patriarchal to the degree that it promotes male privilege by being male dominated, male identified, and male centered. It is also organized around an obsession with control and involves as one of its key aspects the oppression of women.... If men occupy superior positions, it's a short leap to the idea that men must be superior...[and that] whatever men do will tend to be seen as having greater value.”

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Book:The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy
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“With the overall emphasis on condemnation comes a covertly oppressive message of grace. Mary recalls, “The leader of my women’s Bible study is an ordained clergywoman. She told us that no one’s gone to hell for having sex before marriage. If we ’fall off the wagon,’ just repent.” While this kind of message seems to help balance the Puritanical influence, it falls short of affirming sexual desire and its satisfaction for the single woman. The need to repent still declares that her participation in sexual activity is sinful without exception. This declaration is proving to be false and oppressive, sending the single African American woman on an endless sin/ repent merry-go-round of wondering if G ~ d is pleased with her. This woman’s sexual desire is normative, and unrelenting. What does G ~ d think of her acts of satisfaction, whether alone or with a partner? Perhaps a church can help by preaching and teaching a message of holistic human goodness.”

ReligionSexChurchSinChristianityForgivenessOppressionRepentance
Book:Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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“Why are breakfast food breakfast foods?" I asked them. "Like, why don't we have curry for breakfast?" "Hazel, eat." "But why?" I asked. "I mean seriously: How did scrambled eggs get stuck with breakfast exclusivity? You can put bacon on a sandwich without anyone freaking out. But the moment your sandwich has an egg, boom, it's a breakfast sandwich.” Dad answered with his mouth full. "When you come back, we'll have breakfast for dinner deal?" “I don't want to have breakfast for dinner." I answered, crossing knife and fork over my mostly full plate, "I want to have scrambled eggs for dinner without this ridiculous construction that a scrambled egg inclusive meal is breakfast even when it occurs at dinner time." “You gotta pick your battles in this world Hazel.” My mom said, “But if this is the issue you want to champion, we will stand behind you.” “Quite a bit behind you.” My dad added, and mom laughed. Anyway, I knew it was stupid, but I felt kind of bad for scrambled eggs.”

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Book:The Fault in Our Stars
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