CURATED COLLECTION

Standing Up for What You Believe

Conviction without action is just opinion — on the cost and the necessity of taking a stand.

18 quotes found

“
If they burn our fields, we will burn theirs. If they kill, we will kill.

—Samori TouréEmperor

Industrial Age ERA • West Africa

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The most dangerous thing for a woman is silence.

—Assia DjebarNovelist & Historian

Post-War ERA • North Africa

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To be weak is miserable, doing or suffering.

—John MiltonEnglish Poet and Intellectual

Renaissance ERA • Western Europe

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You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies.

—Maya AngelouPoet, Memoirist & Activist

Post-War ERA • North America

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Minorities suffer because the majority is silent. Silence is consent to cruelty.

—Taslima NasrinAuthor & Activist

Late Modern ERA • South Asia

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They think that because they have put my husband in jail, they have silenced me.

—Winnie Madikizela-MandelaActivist & Politician

Late Modern ERA • Southern Africa

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I am speaking the truth, and the truth is savage and dangerous.

—Nawal El SaadawiFeminist, Writer & Physician

Post-War ERA • North Africa

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The most dangerous thing any government fears is a woman who thinks.

—Nawal El SaadawiFeminist, Writer & Physician

Late Modern ERA • North Africa

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Is it true that the bravery of Ashanti is no more? I cannot believe it.

—Yaa AsantewaaQueen

Industrial Age ERA • West Africa

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Silence is complicity. To be silent is to betray.

—Marjorie AgosínPoet & Activist

Late Modern ERA • Latin America

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El miedo es el peor censor. Te habita, te limita, te condena al silencio.

—Luisa ValenzuelaNovelist & Journalist

Late Modern ERA • Latin America

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It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.

—Malcolm XActivist & Minister

Post-War ERA • North America

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Silence is not an option when injustice screams, when human dignity is attacked.

—Marta TrabaCritic & Novelist

Post-War ERA • Latin America

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I am the doppelganger whom, if you meet, you must either kill or be killed.

—Dambudzo MarecheraWriter

Late Modern ERA • Southern Africa

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Break all chains. Burn all prisons. Rise, O oppressed! Your time has come.

—Kazi Nazrul IslamPoet, Musician & Revolutionary

Early Modern ERA • South Asia

“
Silence is often the greatest crime.

—Sony Labou TansiPlaywright & Novelist

Late Modern ERA • West Africa

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Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

—John MiltonEnglish Poet and Intellectual

Renaissance ERA • Western Europe

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I am the rebel, I am the thunder, I am the storm. I am the pain and the fire.

—Kazi Nazrul IslamPoet, Musician & Revolutionary

Early Modern ERA • South Asia