Oppressed Quotes

• Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Interesting, Social Justice, Oppression

  37 Copy quote

• You can't hold a man down without staying down with him.

  Booker T. Washington

  Letting Go, Stay Strong, Men

  "The Great Quotations" edited by George Seldes, (p. 641), 1971.

  28 Copy quote

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• To hold a people in oppression you have to convince them first that they are supposed to be oppressed.

  John Henrik Clarke

  People, Firsts, Oppression

  74 Copy quote

• A government which uses force to maintain its rule teaches the oppressed to use force to oppose it.

  Nelson Mandela

  Teaching, Government, Use

  Nelson Mandela (1988). “The Historic Speech of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela at the Rivonia Trial: As Delivered from the Dock on April 20, 1964”

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• Right from the moment of our birth, we are under the care and kindness of our parents, and then later on in our life when we are oppressed by sickness and become old, we are again dependent on the kindness of others. Since at the beginning and end of our lives we are so dependent on other's kindness, how can it be in the middle that we would neglect kindness towards others?

  Dalai Lama

  Kindness, Helping Others, Parent

  12 Copy quote

• Oppression that is clearly inexorable and invincible does not give rise to revolt but to submission.

  Simone Weil

  Peace, Giving, Doe

  12 Copy quote

• Serve humanity, regardless of religion. Show solidarity for those suffering and oppressed.

  Tariq Ramadan

  Humanity, Suffering, Solidarity

  5 Copy quote

• Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.

  Frederick Douglass

  Peace, Patriotic, Ignorance

  Speech on the twenty-fourth anniversary of emancipation in the District of Columbia,Washington, D.C., Apr. 1886

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• In the long run even the most despotic governments with all their brutality and cruelty are no match for ideas. Eventually the ideology that has won the support of the majority will prevail and cut the ground from under the tyrant's feet. Then the oppressed many will rise in rebellion and overthrow their masters.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Running, Cutting, Government

  Ludwig von Mises (2016). “An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution: The Economist”, p.264, VM eBooks

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• In order for the oppressed to be able to wage the struggle for their liberation, they must perceive the reality of oppression not as a closed world from which there is no exit , but as a limiting situation which they can transform.

  Paulo Freire

  Struggle, Reality, Order

  Paulo Freire (2014). “Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary Edition”, p.35, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• Libertarian action must recognize this dependence as a weak point and must attempt through reflection and action to transform it into independence. However, not even the best-intentioned leadership can bestow independence as a gift. The liberation of the oppressed is a liberation of women and men, not things. Accordingly, while no one liberates himself by his own efforts alone, neither is he liberated by others. Liberation, a human phenomenon, cannot be achieved by semihumans. Any attempt to treat people as semihumans only dehumanizes them.

  Paulo Freire

  Men, Reflection, People

  Paulo Freire (2014). “Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary Edition”, p.47, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• I have always felt it was a handicap for oppressed peoples to depend so largely upon a leader, because unfortunately in our culture, the charismatic leader usually becomes a leader because he has found a spot in the public limelight.

  Ella Baker

  Leader, Slavery, Culture

  142 Copy quote

• American and Israel share a special bond. Our relationship is unique among all nations. Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty, a home to the oppressed and persecuted.

  William J. Clinton

  Strong, Home, Unique

  11 Copy quote

• This book will present some aspects of what the writer has termed the pedagogy of the oppressed, a pedagogy which must be forged with, not for, the oppressed (whether individuals or peoples) in the incessant struggle to regain their humanity.

  Paulo Freire

  Struggle, Book, Humanity

  Paulo Freire (2014). “Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary Edition”, p.34, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• To say that poverty explains terror is to slander those caught in poverty who choose to lead worthy lives. [Terrorists] are not the oppressed, but they are the parasites of the oppressed.

  Sean Wilentz

  Poverty, Caught, Parasites

  4 Copy quote

• Oppressed groups are frequently placed in the situation of being listened to only if we frame our ideas in the language that is familiar to and comfortable for a dominant group. This requirement often changes the meaning of our ideas and works to elevate the ideas of dominant groups.

  Patricia Hill Collins

  Change, Ideas, Society

  Patricia Hill Collins (2002). “Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment”, p.7, Routledge

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• I believe that there will be ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those who do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don't think it will be based on the color of the skin.

  Malcolm X

  Believe, Thinking, Color

  245 Copy quote

• The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them in parliament.

  Vladimir Lenin

  Years, Class, Politics

  "The State and Revolution". Chapter 5, www.marxists.org. 1917.

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• Humour is the weapon of unarmed people: it helps people who are oppressed to smile at the situation that pains them.

  Simon Wiesenthal

  Happiness, Smile, Laughter

  37 Copy quote

• Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their opressors.

  Evelyn Cunningham

  Feminist, Feminism, Groups

  42 Copy quote

• All oppression creates a state of war.

  Simone de Beauvoir

  War, Historical, Oppression

  Simone de Beauvoir (1953). “The second sex”, Vintage

  129 Copy quote

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• Indeed, the interests of the oppressors lie in 'changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which oppresses them.

  Paulo Freire

  Lying, Consciousness, Interest

  Paulo Freire (2014). “Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 30th Anniversary Edition”, p.53, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

  16 Copy quote

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• The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber. Religion reminds every man that he is his brother's keeper.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Brother, Men

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

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• It could never be a correct justification that, because the whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, that the blacks must oppress them today because they have power.

  Robert Mugabe

  Yesterday, Zimbabwe, Today

  656 Copy quote

• It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.

  Lord Acton

  Freedom, Equality, Democracies Have

  Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom: Great Event”, p.9, VM eBooks

  46 Copy quote

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