In working to end violence against women and children, we need to ensure that men are centrally involved. Men need to organise themselves in a sustained campaign against gender-based violence.
Cyril RamaphosaRead
We cannot effect meaningful change if we become complacent, if we become comfortable with our own positions in the status quo.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Change requires active effort and discomfort; complacency prevents progress.
This quote emphasizes that meaningful change cannot occur in a state of complacency. When individuals or societies become too comfortable with their current situations, they may resist the necessary efforts and sacrifices needed to challenge the status quo and initiate significant transformation. Therefore, it is crucial to remain vigilant and willing to step outside one's comfort zone to foster real progress.
Themes
ChangeComplacencyStatus QuoGrowthProgress
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be referenced in a speech about social justice and the importance of activism.
More from Cyril Ramaphosa
All quotes βThere are times when leadership needs to take a bold move forward. And there are times when the leadership needs to act on the basis of what the grass roots say. You need to have your political thermometer constantly in the political waters to know when to give leadership in what way.
Cyril RamaphosaRead
We need to mobilise our structures and our supporters to oppose state capture and corruption in whatever form it takes.
Cyril RamaphosaRead
Violence against women and children resembles an epidemic. It has spread through society, sparing no social group or class.
Cyril RamaphosaRead
No man is born believing that he has dominion over women. Instead, this view is handed down from generation to generation and amplified through social custom, culture, and popular media.
Cyril RamaphosaRead
We must listen to the concerns of our people without dismissing them. When people see something wrong, there is something wrong. When our people see corruption, it means there is corruption. When our people see that their resources are being stolen by certain people, it means this is happening, and we should listen.
Cyril RamaphosaRead
Similar quotes
Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.
E. O. WilsonRead
We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs, such as a new gadget that gets released, or catastrophic failures, like a plane crash.
Steven JohnsonRead
I had often wondered how to best decolonize my people... It must be done one human being at a time. Without that kind of help, Western society does not allow people to come to terms with their feelings. With honesty and therapy, my people can be made whole again.
Russell MeansRead
If you give people unlimited time and money, they'll do things the same old way. But if they have to achieve the goal in a brief time, they'll either give up or try something new.
Peter DiamandisRead
Who would have thought that the girl who was forced to go to the hospital because she's so skinny would one day be called too fat?
Tyra BanksRead
The danger is that people may mistake what is basically a change in vocabulary for a change in behavior, practices, and attitudes. While practically all Americans have learned to talk inoffensively, not enough have learned to think differently, nor act positively.
Whitney M. YoungRead