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British people Quote by Doris Lessing

“We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always known. They have known for thousands of years that to lock a sick person into solitary confinement makes him worse. They have known for thousands of years that a poor…” quote by Doris Lessing
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““We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always known. They have known for thousands of years that to lock a sick person into solitary confinement makes him worse. They have known for thousands of years that a poor man who is frightened of his landlord and of the police is a slave. They have known it. We know it. But do the great enlightened mass of the British people know it? No. It is our task, Ella, yours and mine, to tell them. Because the great men are too great to be bothered. They are already discovering how to colonise Venus and to irrigate the moon. That is what is important for our time. You and I are the boulder-pushers. All our lives, you and I, we’ll put all our energies, all our talents into pushing a great boulder up a mountain. The boulder is the truth that the great men know by instinct, and the mountain is the stupidity of mankind.””

Doris Lessing

About This Quote

Source Novel: The Sweetest Dream, 1975

Society is kept ignorant by elites who hide truth, while the masses remain stagnant; the author urges active effort to push truth forward.

In simple terms: Elites conceal truth; people must work to reveal it.

Key Takeaway

Actively pursue truth despite complacency.

Themes

societal critique truth activism knowledge class literature

Mood

critical determined

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

  • political activism
  • education reform
  • public discourse

Key Concepts

philosophical social commentary

Questions to Reflect On

  • What role do individuals play in exposing truth?
  • How can collective action overcome ignorance?
A Different Perspective

Truth may be suppressed by power structures, limiting impact.

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