--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a tendency for people affected…" description: "\"“There is a tendency for people affected by this epidemic to police each other or prescribe what the most important gestures would be for dealing with ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/david-wojnarowicz-24572_bottom-line_there-is-a-tendency-for-people-affected_1140044.jpg" --- # There is a tendency for people affected by this epidemic… ![“There is a tendency for people affected by this epidemic to police each other or prescribe what the most important gestures would be for dealing with this experience of loss. I resent that. At the same time, I worry that friends will slowly become professional pallbearers, waiting for each death…” quote by David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/david-wojnarowicz-24572_bottom-line_there-is-a-tendency-for-people-affected_1140044.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/david-wojnarowicz-24572_bottom-line_there-is-a-tendency-for-people-affected_1140044.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/david-wojnarowicz-24572_bottom-line_there-is-a-tendency-for-people-affected_1140044.jpg) > ““There is a tendency for people affected by this epidemic to police each other or prescribe what the most important gestures would be for dealing with this experience of loss. I resent that. At the same time, I worry that friends will slowly become professional pallbearers, waiting for each death of their lovers, friends, and neighbors, and polishing their funeral speeches; perfecting their rituals of death rather than a relatively simple ritual of life such as screaming in the streets. I worry because of the urgency of the situations, because of seeing death coming in from the edges of abstraction where those with the luxury of time have cast it. I imagine what it would be like if friends had a demonstration each time a lover or a friend or a stranger died of AIDS. I imagine what it would be like if, each time a lover, friend or stranger died of this disease, their friends, lovers or neighbors would take the dead body and drive with it in a car a hundred miles an hour to washington d.c. and blast through the gates of the white house and come to a screeching halt before the entrance and dump their lifeless form on the front steps. It would be comforting to see those friends, neighbors, lovers and strangers mark time and place and history in such a public way. But, bottom line, this is my own feelings of urgency and need; bottom line, emotionally, even a tiny charcoal scratching done as a gesture to mark a person's response to this epidemic means whole worlds to me if it is hung in public; bottom line, each and every gesture carries a reverberation that is meaningful in its diversity; bottom line, we have to find our own forms of gesture and communication. You can never depend on the mass media to reflect us or our needs or our states of mind; bottom line, with enough gestures we can deafen the satellites and lift the curtains surrounding the control room.”” [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for bold, public gestures to confront AIDS grief, rejecting sanitized rituals and media complacency. **In simple terms:** Public, dramatic acts can force society to notice AIDS loss. Key Takeaway Make grief visible and urgent. Themes grief activism publicity urgency Mood urgent provocative Type activist reflective When to use this quote - protest art - community vigils - policy advocacy Key Concepts social protest ritual innovation media critique Questions to Reflect On - What public actions can honor loss without causing harm? - How can we balance visibility with sensitivity? A Different Perspective Extreme displays may alienate allies or cause trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bottom line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottom-line/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Mass media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-media/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [White house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-house/) ## Related quotes > [I worry that friends will slowly become professional pallbearers, waiting for each death, of their lovers, friends and neighbors, and polishing their funeral speeches;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/i-worry-that-friends-will-slowly-become-professional-pallbearers/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [We are having a public health response to this epidemic of prescription opioids. We are looking at treatment options, there are drugs being made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perri-peltz/we-are-having-a-public-health-response-to-this-epidemic-of/) [Perri Peltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perri-peltz/) > [Without an adequate response, an epidemic can develop into a pandemic, which generally means it has spread to more than one continent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-huffman/without-an-adequate-response-an-epidemic-can-develop-into-a-pandemic/) [Alan Huffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-huffman/) > [I had at one point this rather depressing image of some alien culture seeing the death of this planet - coming down in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/i-had-at-one-point-this-rather-depressing-image-of-some-alien-culture/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [“I’m just saying that you live every day like you’re challenging death to come find you, and other people live their days seeing death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-stradling/i-m-just-saying-that-you-live-every-day-like-you-re-challenging-death/) [Rita Stradling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-stradling/) > [“Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean.” -David Searls”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-roquet/seeing-death-as-the-end-of-life-is-like-seeing-the-horizon-as-the-end-2/) [Angela Roquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-roquet/) > [The record is about seeing death and growing from it, and in the end, being strong and being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/the-record-is-about-seeing-death-and-growing-from-it-and-in-the-end/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [Seeing death is not as difficult as you might think. 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Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/whatsoever-causes-no-annoyance-when-it-is-present-causes-only-a/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [I'm waiting for death for better hell than studying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarjayan/i-m-waiting-for-death-for-better-hell-than-studying/) Amarjayan > [“All this waiting. Waiting for the rain to stop. Waiting in traffic. Waiting for the bill. Waiting at the airport for an old friend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/all-this-waiting-waiting-for-the-rain-to-stop-waiting-in-traffic/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) ## More by David Wojnarowicz > [Feeling animalistic. Feeling Hyena. Feeling Wolf. Feeling Dog. I am tongue and heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/feeling-animalistic-feeling-hyena-feeling-wolf-feeling-dog-i-am/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [“Hell is a place on earth. Heaven is a place in your head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/hell-is-a-place-on-earth-heaven-is-a-place-in-your-head/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [To me, photographs are like words and I generally will place many photographs together or print them one inside the other in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/to-me-photographs-are-like-words-and-i-generally-will-place-many/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [I worry that friends will slowly become professional pallbearers, waiting for each death, of their lovers, friends and neighbors, and polishing their funeral speeches;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/i-worry-that-friends-will-slowly-become-professional-pallbearers/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [I want to throw up because we're supposed to quietly and politely make house in this killing machine called America and pay taxes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/i-want-to-throw-up-because-we-re-supposed-to-quietly-and-politely/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [Transition is always a relief. Destination means death to me. If I could figure out a way to remain forever in transition, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/transition-is-always-a-relief-destination-means-death-to-me-if-i/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [History is made and preserved by and for particular classes of people. A camera in some hands can preserve an alternate history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/history-is-made-and-preserved-by-and-for-particular-classes-of-people/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [“I felt that blush in my chest as we talked stupid talk never quite revealing our queerness to each other but somehow wordlessly generating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/i-felt-that-blush-in-my-chest-as-we-talked-stupid-talk-never-quite/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [“I remembered a friend of mine dying from AIDS, and while he was visiting his family on the coast for the last time, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/i-remembered-a-friend-of-mine-dying-from-aids-and-while-he-was/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [“I'm looking for a path out of the emptiness but all I see is the great wide earth in various formations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/i-m-looking-for-a-path-out-of-the-emptiness-but-all-i-see-is-the/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [No one can really explain in a rational way what makes a good photograph or a bad photograph... This is why the art world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/no-one-can-really-explain-in-a-rational-way-what-makes-a-good/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [“With all these occurrences of death facing me, I thought about issues of freedom. If government projects the idea that we, as people inhabiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/with-all-these-occurrences-of-death-facing-me-i-thought-about-issues/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [I am all emptiness and futility. I am an empty stranger, a carbon copy of my form. I can no longer find what I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wojnarowicz/i-am-all-emptiness-and-futility-i-am-an-empty-stranger-a-carbon-copy/) [David Wojnarowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wojnarowicz/) > [“Sometimes I come to hate people because they can’t see where I am. 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Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-w-moss/) > [The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-bottom-line-is-that-a-people-are-never-perfect-but-love-can-be-b/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 942 Bottom line quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottom-line/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is a tendency for people affected by this epidemic to police each other or prescribe what the most important gestures would be for dealing with this experience of loss. I resent that. At the same time, I worry that friends will slowly become professional pallbearers, waiting for each death of their lovers, friends, and neighbors, and polishing their funeral speeches; perfecting their rituals of death rather than a relatively simple ritual of life such as screaming in the streets. I worry because of the urgency of the situations, because of seeing death coming in from the edges of abstraction where those with the luxury of time have cast it. I imagine what it would be like if friends had a demonstration each time a lover or a friend or a stranger died of AIDS. I imagine what it would be like if, each time a lover, friend or stranger died of this disease, their friends, lovers or neighbors would take the dead body and drive with it in a car a hundred miles an hour to washington d.c. and blast through the gates of the white house and come to a screeching halt before the entrance and dump their lifeless form on the front steps. 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