On rare occasions one does hear of a miraculous case of a married couple falling in love after marriage, but on close examination it will be found that it is a mere adjustment to the inevitable.
If not for the direct action of a John Brown and his comrades, America would still trade in the flesh of the black man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the significant impact that individual actions can have in fighting against systemic injustice and oppression.
Emma Goldman's quote reflects on the vital role that John Brown and his allies played in opposing slavery in America. It suggests that without the courageous actions of individuals willing to confront and resist deeply rooted injustices, society might have remained stagnant, perpetuating the inhumane practice of slavery. The quote underscores the importance of activism and the capacity of individuals to effect meaningful change in the face of oppression.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the Civil Rights Movement and individual activism.
More from Emma Goldman
All quotes βNo one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
To the indefinite, uncertain mind of the American radical the most contradictory ideas and methods are possible. The result is a sad chaos in the radical movement, a sort of intellectual hash, which has neither taste nor character.
John Burroughs has stated that experimental study of animals in captivity is absolutely useless. Their character, their habits, their appetites undergo a complete transformation when torn from their soil in field and forest. With human nature caged in a narrow space, whipped daily into submission, how can we speak of its potentialities?
Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are non-existent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only through man's subordination.
If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus.
Similar quotes
Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.
Everyone is an ocean inside. Every individual walking the street. Everyone is a universe of thoughts, and insights, and feelings. But every person is crippled in his or her own way by our inability to truly present ourselves to the world.
Shiloh isnβt haunted β men are haunted. Shiloh doesnβt care.
The years like great black oxen tread the world, and God, the herdsman goads them on behind, and I am broken by their passing feet.
Show my head to the people. It is worth seeing.
We've been deceived by the thought that we would be more pleasing to God in our own way than in the way God has given us.