I know that I am leaving the winning side for the losing side, but it is better to die on the losing side than to live under Communism.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the importance of standing up for one's beliefs, even at great personal cost.
Whittaker Chambers emphasizes the moral conviction behind his choice to oppose Communism, acknowledging that while he may be leaving a advantageous position, he prefers to suffer for his principles than to live under an oppressive regime. This serves as a powerful commentary on the nature of freedom and integrity, advocating for the courage to choose one's values over comfort or safety.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of standing up for one's beliefs.
Men who sincerely abhorred the word Communism in the pursuit of common ends found that they were unable to distinguish Communists from themselves…. For men who could not see that what they firmly believed was liberalism added up to socialism could scarcely be expected to see what added up to Communism. Any charge of Communism enraged them precisely because they could not grasp the differences between themselves and those against whom it was made.
On that road of the informer, it is always night. I cannot ever inform against anyone without feeling something die within me. I inform without pleasure, because it is necessary.
At issue was the question whether this man's faith could prevail against a man whose equal faith it was that this society is sick beyond saving, and that mercy itself pleads for its swift extinction and replacement by another.
Life is not worth living for which a man is not prepared to die at any moment.
Experience had taught me that innocence seldom utters outraged shrikes. Guilt does. Innocence is a mighty shield, and the man or woman covered by it, is much more likely to answer calmly: 'My life is blameless. Look into it, if you like, for you will find nothing.' That is the tone of innocence.
The rub is that the pursuit of happiness, as an end in itself, tends automatically, and widely, to be replaced by the pursuit of pleasure with a consequent general softening of the fibers of will, intelligence, spirit.
I didn't realize that the platform could be this big until Colin Kaepernick first took a knee. When he did that, that was kind of an 'aha' moment for me.
I had insecurities and fears like everybody does, and I got over it. But I was interested in the parts of me that struggled with those things.
Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight.
Cowgirl is a spirit, a special brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands. They speak up. They defend the things they hold dear. A cowgirl might be a rancher, or a barrel racer, or a bull rider, or an actress. But she's just as likely to be a checker at the local Winn Dixie, a full-time mother, a banker, an attorney, or an astronaut.
Til shade is gone, til water is gone Into the shadow with teeth bared Screaming defiance with the last breath To spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the Last Day.
Do you want to understand how to swim, or do you want to jump in and start swimming? Only people who are afraid of the water want to understand it. Other people jump in and get wet.
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