Dissent Quotes - Page 11

• Thought that is silenced is always rebellious. Majorities, of course, are often mistaken. This is why the silencing of minorities is necessarily dangerous. Criticism and dissent are the indispensable antidote to major delusions.

  Alan Barth

  Atheism, Liberty, Criticism

  "The Loyalty of Free Men". Book by Alan Barth, 1951.

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• ...Americans...automatically equate dissension with disloyalty. They view any criticism of our existing social, economic, and political forms, as sedition and subversion. ...(" The growing reluctance of Americans to criticize, and their increasing tendency to condemn those who, in ever dwindling numbers, will still voice dissent") is disturbing, deplorable, and truly dangerous.

  J. Paul Getty

  Dark, Numbers, Views

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• Since the time of the ancient Greeks a democracy has depended on its philosophers and creative artists. It can only flourish by continuous probing, prodding, and questioning of the social conditions under which man exists and tries to better himself. One of the first moves of a dictatorship is to stifle the artists and thinkers who have the ability to stir up dissent from any prescribed dogma which might enslave them. Because the artist can arouse the curiosity and conscience of his community, he becomes a threat to those who have taken power.

  Uta Hagen

  Women, Moving, Taken

  Uta Hagen (1991). “Challenge For The Actor”, p.3, Simon and Schuster

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• I am more than ever convinced of the dangers to which the free and unbiased exercise of political opinion - the only sure foundation and safeguard of republican government - would be exposed by any further increase of the already overgrown influence of corporate authorities.

  Martin Van Buren

  Exercise, Political Opinions, Government

  Martin Van Buren (1969). “Martin Van Buren, 1782-1862: chronology-documents-bibliographical aids”

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• The mission of the Gestapo expanded steadily as from 1933 onward, "political criminality" was given a much broader definition than ever before and more forms of dissent and criticism were gradually criminalized. The result was that more "laws" or law-like measures were put on the books than ever.

  Sheila Fitzpatrick

  Book, Law, Political

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• As the work progresses the careful reader will insert mental interrogation points here and there. He will find that his interest increases as the interrogation points become more frequent, and that it culminates where they are changed to marks of positive dissent. I venture to record the opinion that the value of the work reaches a maximum in a passage that is demonstrably incorrect.

  John Bates Clark

  Progress, Here And There, Records

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• Just as the Internet drops transaction and collaboration costs in business and government, it also drops the cost of dissent, of rebellion, and even insurrection.

  Don Tapscott

  Government, Collaboration, Cost

  " Life Lessons of Wisdom & Motivation - Volume III: Insightful, Enlightened and Inspirational quotations and proverbs" by M.I. Seka, Providential Press, (p. 67), February 28, 2014.

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• The fault I find with most American newspapers is not the absence of dissent. it is the absence of news. With a dozen or so honorable exceptions, most American newspapers carry very little news. Their main concern is advertising.

  I. F. Stone

  Liberty, News, Dozen

  I. F. Stone (2009). “The Best of I.F. Stone”, p.7, PublicAffairs

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• I do hope that some of my dissents will one day be the law.

  Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  Badass, Law, One Day

  "Court Is ‘One of Most Activist,’ Ginsburg Says, Vowing to Stay" by Adam Liptak, www.nytimes.com. August 24, 2013.

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• Dissent is the cousin of diversity; the respect for a wide range of beliefs. This begins by allowing people the space to say "no". If we cannot say "no" then our "yes" has no meaning. Each needs the chance to express their doubts and reservations, without having to justify them, or move quickly into problem solving. No is the beginning of the conversation for commitment.

  Peter Block

  Cousin, Moving, Commitment

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• It is dissent from government policies which defines the true Patriot

  Ron Paul

  Government, Libertarian, Patriot

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• And only the very courageous will be able to keep alive the spirit of individualism and dissent which gave birth to this nation, nourished it as an infant, and carried it through its severest tests upon the attainment of its maturity.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Maturity, Alive

  John F. Kennedy (1964). “Profiles In Courage”

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• A black conservative is a black who dissents from the victimization explanation of black fate.

  Shelby Steele

  Fate, Black, Conservative

  Shelby Steele (2009). “A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America”, p.10, Harper Collins

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• Others - as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders - serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few - as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men - serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part.

  Henry David Thoreau

  God, Hero, Men

  Henry David Thoreau, Nancy L. Rosenblum (1996). “Thoreau: Political Writings”, p.3, Cambridge University Press

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• The intolerant man will not rely on persuasion, or on the worth of the idea. He would deny to others the very freedom of opinion or of dissent which he so stridently demands for himself. He cannot trust democracy.

  Robert Kennedy

  Men, Ideas, Democracy

  Robert F. Kennedy (1964). “The Pursuit of Justice”, New York : Harper & Row

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• To advance from a nuanced dissent to a compelling vision, progressive policymakers should turn to the great mainstay of twentieth-century U.S. foreign policy: liberal internationalism... (which) should offer assertive leadership - diplomatic, economic, and not least, military - to advance a broad array of goals.

  Suzanne Nossel

  Military, Goal, Vision

  "Smart Power" by Suzanne Nossel, www.foreignaffairs.com. March/April 2004.

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• The writing you allude to is a form of dissent, but it's also expressive of the need to evolve beyond what is turgid and stale in contemporary fiction.

  Rachel Cusk

  Writing, Contemporary Fiction, Needs

  "Go Forth (Vol. 34)". Interview with Alice Whitwham, logger.believermag.com. June 17, 2015.

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• Our media, which is like a planetary nervous system, are far more sensitive to breakdowns than to breakthroughs. They filter out our creativity and successes, considering them less newsworthy than violence, war, and dissent. When we read newspapers and watch television news, we feel closer to a death in the social body than to an awakening.

  Barbara Marx Hubbard

  War, Creativity, Media

  Barbara Marx Hubbard (2015). “Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential”, p.18, New World Library

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• This is an amazing country, for all of its faults. My feeling is, dig in and let's try to change the world. Dissent is not only your right, it's your duty.

  Susan Sarandon

  Country, Feelings, Patriotism

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• In America, you can segregate the people, but the problems will travel. From slavery to equal rights, from state suppression of dissent to crime, drugs and unemployment, I can't think of a supposedly Black issue that hasn't wasted the original Black target group and then spread like measles to outlying white experience.

  June Jordan

  Thinking, America, Issues

  June Jordan (1986). “On call: political essays”

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• To respect Louis Farrakhan, we must understand, is simply to agree with him... If dissent is now also to be thought of as a form of 'dissing,' then we have indeed succumbed to the thought police.

  Salman Rushdie

  Police, Religion, Dissing

  Salman Rushdie (2008). “Step Across This Line”, p.81, Random House

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• When misfortunes happen to such as dissent from us in matters of religion, we call them judgments; when to those of our own sect, we call them trials; when to persons neither way distinguished, we are content to attribute them to the settled course of things.

  William Shenstone

  Trials, Matter, Way

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• Let no one tell me that silence gives consent, because whoever is
  silent dissents.

  Maria Isabel Barreno

  Giving, Silence, Silent

  Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta, Maria Velho da Costa (1975). “The Three Marias: New Portuguese Letters”, p.349

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• The university is the last remaining platform for national dissent.

  Leon Eisenberg

  Education, Lasts, Platforms

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• More truly characteristic of dissent is a dignity, an elevation, of mood and thought and phrase. Deep conviction and warm feeling are saying their last say with knowledge that the cause is lost. The voice of the majority may be that of force triumphant, content with the plaudits of the hour, and recking little of the morrow. The dissenter speaks to the future, and his voice is pitched to a key that will carry through the years.

  Benjamin Cardozo

  Years, Law, Voice

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