Able Quote by Arundhati Roy
“Every people, every society, needs a culture of resistance, a culture of being difficult and disobedient, that is the only way they will ever be able to stand up to the inevitable abuse of power by whoever runs the state apparatus, the capitalists, the communists, the socialists, the Gandhians, whoever.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Public Lecture, 2010, India
A society must cultivate dissent and non‑conformity to protect itself from oppressive power structures.
In simple terms: Resistance protects freedom.
Key Takeaway
Cultivate critical dissent.
Themes
politics
power
resistance
civil disobedience
Mood
defiant
urgent
Type
political
activist
When to use this quote
- activist movements
- community organizing
- journalistic inquiry
- academic debate
Key Concepts
social contract
authoritarianism
collective agency
Questions to Reflect On
- How can dissent be nurtured safely?
- What limits does dissent face in authoritarian contexts?
A Different Perspective
Resistance can be suppressed by fear and repression.
![“That's what I think my job in the world has been, is to sort of try to sit silently a bit and watch it all sort of move and see those small, quiet details, whether it be a small village outside of Colombo [country?] or the favelas of Brazil, where, again, resistance culture is something that you…” quote by Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aa7/kehinde-wiley-1194_bits_that-s-what-i-think-my-job-in-the-world_2937965.jpg)
