--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you are trying to transform a…" description: "\"If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most power..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/adrienne-rich-803_dignity_if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutali_875351.png" --- # If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into… ![“If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.” quote by Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/adrienne-rich-803_dignity_if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutali_875351.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/adrienne-rich-803_dignity_if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutali_875351.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/adrienne-rich-803_dignity_if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutali_875351.png) > “If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.” [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Social transformation starts by uplifting the most vulnerable, building change from the grassroots up. **In simple terms:** Empower the powerless first. Key Takeaway Support marginalized voices. Themes social justice empowerment grassroots Mood hopeful determined Type activist inspirational When to use this quote - community organizing - policy reform - education programs Key Concepts Intersectionality human rights Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals contribute to grassroots empowerment? - What obstacles arise when uplifting the marginalized? A Different Perspective Power structures may resist change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begin Empowering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begin-empowering-995952/) [Brutalized Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutalized-society-995954/) [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Dignity Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity-hope-804551/) [Empowering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empowering/) [Empowering Powerless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empowering-powerless-995953/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Powerless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerless/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformation/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Ubuntu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ubuntu/) ## Related quotes > [I don’t think we can separate art from overall human dignity and hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-don-t-think-we-can-separate-art-from-overall-human-dignity-and-hope/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [When you deprive people of their right to live in dignity, to hope for a better future, to have control over their lives, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-rania-of-jordan/when-you-deprive-people-of-their-right-to-live-in-dignity-to-hope-for/) [Queen Rania of Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-rania-of-jordan/) > [If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever little work I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chan-khong/if-we-just-worry-about-the-big-picture-we-are-powerless-so-my-secret/) [Chan Khong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chan-khong/) > [Mounting an expedition to actualize a Compassionate Commonwealth of all peoples...is the great spiritual challenge of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mounting-an-expedition-to-actualize-a-compassionate-commonwealth-of/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [It's odd how those who dismiss the peace movement as utopian, don't hesitate to proffer the most absurdly dreamy reasons for going to war:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-s-odd-how-those-who-dismiss-the-peace-movement-as-utopian-don-t/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Violence produces only something resembling justice, but it distances people from the possibility of living justly, without violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/violence-produces-only-something-resembling-justice-but-it-distances/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [In 1989, thirteen nations comprising 1,695,000 people experienced nonviolent revolutions that succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations . . . If we add all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-wink/in-1989-thirteen-nations-comprising-1-695-000-people-experienced/) [Walter Wink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-wink/) > [Africans believe in something that is difficult to render in English. We call it ubuntu, botho. It means the essence of being human. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/africans-believe-in-something-that-is-difficult-to-render-in-english/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Peace is not merely the absence of war. Nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-paul-vi/peace-is-not-merely-the-absence-of-war-nor-can-it-be-reduced-solely/) [Pope Paul VI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-paul-vi/) > [The United States of America is still run by its citizens. The government works for us. Rank imperialism and warmongering are not American traditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/the-united-states-of-america-is-still-run-by-its-citizens-the/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [There is nothing more innately human than the tendency to transmute what has become customary into what has been divinely ordained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/there-is-nothing-more-innately-human-than-the-tendency-to-transmute/) [Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/) > [When we yield to discouragement it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-of-lisieux/when-we-yield-to-discouragement-it-is-usually-because-we-give-too/) [Therese of Lisieux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-of-lisieux/) > [Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-thompson/peace-has-to-be-created-in-order-to-be-maintained-it-is-the-product/) [Dorothy Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-thompson/) > [If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the cloistered walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/if-one-cannot-state-a-matter-clearly-enough-so-that-even-an/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [All works of love are works of peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/all-works-of-love-are-works-of-peace/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) ## More by Adrienne Rich > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you...it means that you do not treat your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/responsibility-to-yourself-means-refusing-to-let-others-do-your/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [What I search for continuously in my art is adequate language, language I hope can stand beyond any particular occasion. What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Well, she's long about her coming, who must be more merciless to herself than history. Her mind full to the wind, I see her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/well-she-s-long-about-her-coming-who-must-be-more-merciless-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think my work comes out of both an intense desire for connection and what it means to feel isolated. There's always going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-my-work-comes-out-of-both-an-intense-desire-for-connection/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Popular culture entered my life as Shirley Temple, who was exactly my age and wrotea letter in the newspapers telling how her mother fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/popular-culture-entered-my-life-as-shirley-temple-who-was-exactly-my/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [... in a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/in-a-history-of-spiritual-rupture-a-social-compact-built-on-fantasy/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [It's as if, in the mother's eyes, her smile, her stroking touch, the child first reads the message:'You are there!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/it-s-as-if-in-the-mother-s-eyes-her-smile-her-stroking-touch-the/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The women's movement appeared at a very crucial moment in my life. There was a whole political movement asking such questions and others I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-women-s-movement-appeared-at-a-very-crucial-moment-in-my-life/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The word revolution itself has become not only a dead relic of Leftism, but a key to the deadendedness of male politics: the revolution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-word-revolution-itself-has-become-not-only-a-dead-relic-of/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The decision to feed the world is the real decision. No revolution has chosen it. For that choice requires that women shall be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-decision-to-feed-the-world-is-the-real-decision-no-revolution-has/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The necessity of poetry has to be stated over and over, but only to those who have reason to fear its power, or those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-necessity-of-poetry-has-to-be-stated-over-and-over-but-only-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think many poets, including myself, write both for the voice and for the page. I certainly write for the person alone in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-many-poets-including-myself-write-both-for-the-voice-and-for/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [If I cling to circumstances I could feel not responsible. Only she who says she did not choose, is the loser in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-i-cling-to-circumstances-i-could-feel-not-responsible-only-she-who/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) [Explore all 364 Adrienne Rich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## More Dignity quotes > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-take-the-responsibility-of-playing-another-ethnicity-very-very/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/) [Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/) > [I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-speak-not-for-myself-but-so-those-without-a-voice-can-be-heard/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The dignity of man is in free choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/the-dignity-of-man-is-in-free-choice/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [One of the things I love about Africa is the amount of dignity and respect and humility you see all the time. You don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-scott/one-of-the-things-i-love-about-africa-is-the-amount-of-dignity-and/) [Jill Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-scott/) > [It is well for a man when he has learned to endure what he cannot change, and to give up with dignity what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/it-is-well-for-a-man-when-he-has-learned-to-endure-what-he-cannot/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor/a-man-as-a-man-could-arrive-at-all-the-dignity-that-a-man-was-capable/) [John Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor/) > [There is something to be said for anyone who sits alone with dignity and silently begs for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-something-to-be-said-for-anyone-who-sits-alone-with-dignity/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/i-just-remember-that-disturbing-feeling-of-walking-into-that-prison/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [The dignity of a woman's life is infinite, her status immeasurable, her capacity unbounded, her role divine...In the fast changing world of today her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/the-dignity-of-a-woman-s-life-is-infinite-her-status-immeasurable-her/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) [Browse all 3,116 Dignity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adrienne Rich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutalized-society-into-one-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dignity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutalized-society-into-one-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/adrienne-rich-803_dignity_if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutali_875351.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/adrienne-rich-803_dignity_if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutali_875351.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/adrienne-rich-803_dignity_if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutali_875351.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you…” — Adrienne Rich", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adrienne Rich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you are trying to transform...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutalized-society-into-one-where/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-you-are-trying-to-transform-a-brutalized-society-into-one-where/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```