Landmines distinguish themselves because once they have been sown, once the soldier walks away from the weapon, the landmine cannot tell the difference between a soldier or a civilian - a woman, a child, a grandmother going out to collect firewood to make the family meal.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the indiscriminate nature of landmines and the tragedies they cause to innocent lives.
Jody Williams emphasizes the tragic reality of landmines, which do not differentiate between combatants and non-combatants. Once set, these weapons pose a persistent threat, potentially endangering civilians like women and children, thereby illustrating a broader commentary on the consequences of war and the indiscriminate suffering it inflicts on society.
In practice
In a speech about the impact of war on civilians, this quote can highlight the ongoing dangers posed by unexploded ordnance.
I think there’s a mythology that if you want to change the world, you have to be sainted, like Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandela or Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Ordinary people with lives that go up and down and around in circles can still contribute to change.
I believe that worrying about the problems plaguing our planet without taking steps to confront them is absolutely irrelevant. The only thing that changes this world is taking action.
Guns go home with the soldiers, but landmines are designed to kill - mindlessly, out of control, for years.
What I consider to be peace [is] a sustainable peace in which the majority of people on this planet have access to enough resources to live dignified lives.
The integrity of my sleep has been forever compromised, sir.
You may lie with your mouth, but with the mouth you make as you do so you none the less tell the truth.
The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings.
Even if I did speak Irish, I’d always be considered an outsider here, wouldn’t I? I may learn the password but the language of the tribe will always elude me, won’t it? The private core will always be ...hermetic, won’t it?
When someone has to intervene to defend the liberty of the press, that society is sick.
Good technique includes quick changes, great variety and speed. It may be a system of reversals much like a concept of God and the Devil. In the speed of events, which one is really in charge? Do they change places with lightning speed? The Chinese believe so. To put the heart of the martial arts in your own heart and have it be a part of you means total comprehension.
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