Who controls the past now controls the future._x000D_ Who controls the present now controls the past._x000D_ Who controls the past now controls the future._x000D_ Who controls the present now?
Zack De La RochaRead
Yes I know my enemies. They're the teachers who taught me to fight me, compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission, ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite, all of which are American dreams.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how the struggles and adversities in life are often shaped by societal norms and expectations.
In this quote, Zack De La Rocha reflects on the various adversaries that he believes are inherent in American society. Rather than traditional enemies, he identifies the societal forces and values—such as conformity, submission, and ignorance—that shape individuals' struggles. It suggests that these challenging elements act as teachers that inform one's fight against the oppressive norms of society, turning adversity into a catalyst for personal and collective awakening.
Themes
EnemiesSocietyStruggleConformityOppressionAmerican Dream
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a social justice presentation to illustrate the hidden challenges society imposes on individuals.
More from Zack De La Rocha
All quotes →I think every revolutionary act is an act of love. Every song that I've written, it is because of my desire to use music as a way to empower and re-humanize people who are living in a dehumanizing setting. The song is in order to better the human condition.
Zack De La RochaRead
Brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked. Brothers and sisters, all electoral freedoms in this country are over so long as it's controlled by corporations. Brothers and sisters, we are not going to allow these streets to be taken over by the Democrats or the Republicans. Because it's all of us who have built this city, and we can tear it down unless they give us what we need.
Zack De La RochaRead
It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime, what better place than here? What better time than now?
Zack De La RochaRead
Similar quotes
When I want to know what France thinks, I ask myself.
Charles De GaulleRead
It [the scarlet letter] had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.
Nathaniel HawthorneRead
The majority of business men are not capable of an original thought, simply because they cannot escape the tyranny of reason.
David OgilvyRead
Tokenism does not change stereotypes of social systems but works to preserve them, since it dulls the revolutionary impulse.
Mary DalyRead
A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.
Mahatma GandhiRead