There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham.
Anna SewellRead
Do you know why this world is as bad as it is?... It is because people think only about their own business, and won't trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed, nor bring the wrong-doers to light... My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of standing up against injustice and the moral responsibility to confront wrongdoing.
Anna Sewell's quote highlights the moral obligation individuals have to act against cruelty and injustice in the world. It suggests that ignoring wrongs or failing to help those who are oppressed not only condones such behavior but also implicates the bystanders in the moral guilt of the situation. This call to action serves as a reminder that our inaction can perpetuate suffering, and it is our duty to use our power to challenge and change wrongs whenever possible.
Themes
ActionInjusticeResponsibilityCrueltyOppressionMoralCourage
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on social justice, this quote could inspire the audience to take action against inequality.
More from Anna Sewell
All quotes →My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.
Anna SewellRead
We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.
Anna SewellRead
What right had they to make me suffer like that?
Anna SewellRead
Why don't they cut their own children's ears into points to make them look sharp? Why don't they cut off their noses to make them look plucky? One would be just as sensible as the other. What right have they to torment and disfigure God's creatures?
Anna SewellRead
Similar quotes
I became famous for the fact that I would break many, many limits. People said, 'He does all these crazy things.' But oddly it was a crazy thing only because scientists and climbers said, 'Everest and the 8,000-meter peaks without oxygen - impossible. Messner is becoming sick in his head.'
Reinhold MessnerRead
There are periods on the mountain when you exist between living and dying, sometimes for days. I went through that with my brother on Nanga Parbat. It is very difficult, but it is the most intense experience. And always after such experiences, when I was back among people, I felt I had been reborn.
Reinhold MessnerRead
I was repeatedly told that there isn't an African American woman who can open a show on Broadway. I said, 'Well, how do we know? How do we know if we don't do it?' I said, 'I think you're wrong.'
Lynn NottageRead
Farm workers everywhere are angry and worried that we cannot win without violence. We have proved it before through persistence, hard work, faith and willingness to sacrifice. We can win and keep our own self-respect and build a great union that will secure the spirit of all people if we do it through a re-dedication and re-commitment to the struggle for justice through non-violence.
Cesar ChavezRead
I'm a black lady from the Lower East Side of New York. Not a lot intimidates me.
Ursula BurnsRead
Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another's fear.
Umberto EcoRead