If people have to put labels on me, I'd prefer the first label to be human being, the second label to be pacifist, and the third to be folk singer.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of identity beyond societal labels, focusing on fundamental humanity.
Joan Baez expresses a desire for her identity to be rooted in her humanity rather than any superficial labels society might place on her. By prioritizing her identity as a 'human being', she highlights the universal qualities that unite all people, while the secondary labels of 'pacifist' and 'folk singer' reflect her values and passions, promoting peace and art.
In practice
In a speech about self-identity, this quote can emphasize the significance of how we define ourselves.
I would say that I'm a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you...because no one has the right to take the life of another human being.
The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one.
The hardest song to write is a protest song, a topical song with meaning.
That's all nonviolence is - organized love.
To sing is to love and affirm, _x000D_ to fly and to soar, _x000D_ to coast into the hearts of the people _x000D_ who listen _x000D_ to tell them that life is to live, _x000D_ that love is there, _x000D_ that nothing is a promise, _x000D_ but that beauty exists, _x000D_ and must be hunted for and found.
The foundation of my beliefs is the same as it was when I was 10. Non-violence.
Perception is a mirror not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.
We spend our lives on the run: we get up by the clock, eat and sleep by the clock, get up again, go to work - and then we retire. And what do they give us? A bloody clock.
The majority represent a mass of cowards, willing to accept him who mirror its own soul and mind poverty.
I have become convinced that the more wealth a country accumulates, the more isolated and lonely its people become. The loneliest are usually the children and the elderly. Children learn what they live, and isolation in the βvillageβ is one of the most destructive messages we daily write on the tablets of their hearts.
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.
I think the only positive thing that came from Uruguay's dictatorship was the spread of Montevideo natives around the world, and I continued writing about them from my various places of exile.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.