In apartments and cottages, on the street and in the train... I listen... More and more, I turn into one large ear, always turning to another person.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
There is no need to give in to the compromise that totalitarian regimes always count on.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote encourages people to resist yielding to the pressures exerted by oppressive governments.
Svetlana Alexievich highlights the importance of standing firm against the compromises and sacrifices demanded by totalitarian regimes. She suggests that individuals should maintain their integrity and not succumb to the expectations of oppressive powers, emphasizing the value of personal freedom and the courage it takes to uphold one's beliefs in the face of authoritarianism.
Themes
TotalitarianismCompromiseFreedomCourageIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about human rights, you could use this quote to emphasize the importance of standing against oppression.
More from Svetlana Alexievich
All quotes →The subjects I wanted to write about - the mystery of the human soul, evil - didn't interest newspapers, and news reporting bored me.
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'Women's' war has its own colors, its own smells, its own lighting, and its own range of feelings. There are no heroes and incredible feats; there are simply people who are busy doing inhumanly human things.
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I've been searching for a genre that would be most adequate to my vision of the world to convey how my ear hears and my eyes see life. I tried this and that, and finally, I chose a genre where human voices speak for themselves. But I don't just record a dry history of events and facts; I'm writing a history of human feelings.
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From the point of view of art, the butcher and the victim are equal as people. You need to see the people.
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Nothing, not even human life, is more precious to us than our myths about ourselves.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
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