--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's dangerous to tell the truth, truth…" description: "\"“It's dangerous to tell the truth, truth without power is always dangerous. And we should fight! Freedom's not an idea, it's a passion! If you haven't ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/edward-bond-13025_freedom_it-s-dangerous-to-tell-the-truth-truth-w_666138.jpg" --- # It's dangerous to tell the truth, truth without power is… ![“It's dangerous to tell the truth, truth without power is always dangerous. And we should fight! Freedom's not an idea, it's a passion! If you haven't got it you fight like a fish out of water fighting for air!” quote by Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/edward-bond-13025_freedom_it-s-dangerous-to-tell-the-truth-truth-w_666138.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/edward-bond-13025_freedom_it-s-dangerous-to-tell-the-truth-truth-w_666138.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/edward-bond-13025_freedom_it-s-dangerous-to-tell-the-truth-truth-w_666138.jpg) > ““It's dangerous to tell the truth, truth without power is always dangerous. And we should fight! Freedom's not an idea, it's a passion! If you haven't got it you fight like a fish out of water fighting for air!”” [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Truth without power is dangerous; fighting for freedom is essential and passionate. **In simple terms:** Truth needs power; fight for freedom. Key Takeaway Empower truth and act against oppression. Themes truth power freedom activism Mood determined urgent Type political motivational When to use this quote - political activism - social justice campaigns - community organizing - personal advocacy Key Concepts danger passion resistance Questions to Reflect On - What risks do you face when confronting truth? - How can you sustain passion in long struggles? A Different Perspective Power can be limited; fighting may be risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [It is not when it is dangerous to tell the truth that its advocates are hardest to find, but when it is boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-when-it-is-dangerous-to-tell-the-truth-that-its-advocates/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [When you have power you don't have to tell the truth. That's a rule that's been working in this world for generations. And there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-burk/when-you-have-power-you-don-t-have-to-tell-the-truth-that-s-a-rule/) [Dean Burk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-burk/) > [“In the wrong hands,” Leto said, “monolithic centralized power is a dangerous and volatile instrument.” - “And your hands are the right ones?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/in-the-wrong-hands-leto-said-monolithic-centralized-power-is-a/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [There was no simple riddance to the power of a dangerous political idea; no assassination possible to avert a disruptive change in technology; no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heilbroner/there-was-no-simple-riddance-to-the-power-of-a-dangerous-political/) [Robert Heilbroner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heilbroner/) > [Entrepeneurship is addicting, power is dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/django-steenbrink/entrepeneurship-is-addicting-power-is-dangerous/) [Django Steenbrink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/django-steenbrink/) > [The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-greater-the-power-the-more-dangerous-the-abuse/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/certainty-without-power-can-be-interesting-even-amusing-certainty/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [A writer who doesn't need the money gains power and is dangerous in a negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-winslow/a-writer-who-doesn-t-need-the-money-gains-power-and-is-dangerous-in-a/) [Don Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-winslow/) > [Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/power-is-always-dangerous-power-attracts-the-worst-and-corrupts-the/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [That's what Judith Herman is saying, and she's absolutely right. Power then breeds an intensification of all because the power can never be absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/that-s-what-judith-herman-is-saying-and-she-s-absolutely-right-power/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Concentrated political power is the most dangerous thing on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolph-rummel/concentrated-political-power-is-the-most-dangerous-thing-on-earth/) [Rudolph Rummel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolph-rummel/) > [The main problem with American power is not that it is American... No, the main problem with American power is the power itself. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-garton-ash/the-main-problem-with-american-power-is-not-that-it-is-american-no/) [Timothy Garton Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-garton-ash/) > [Be suspicious of people who have, or crave, power. Never, ever go near power. Don't become friends with anyone who has real power. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kubrick/be-suspicious-of-people-who-have-or-crave-power-never-ever-go-near/) [Stanley Kubrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kubrick/) > [Moral power is always more dangerous to an oppressor than political force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/moral-power-is-always-more-dangerous-to-an-oppressor-than-political/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This week in live current events: your eyes. All power can be dangerous: Direct or alternating, you, socket to me. Plugged in and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-gottlieb/this-week-in-live-current-events-your-eyes-all-power-can-be-dangerous/) [Daphne Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-gottlieb/) ## More by Edward Bond > [“Your law always does more harm than crime, and your morality is a form of violence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/your-law-always-does-more-harm-than-crime-and-your-morality-is-a-form/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [I write plays not to make money, but to stop myself from going mad. Because it's my way of making the world rational to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/i-write-plays-not-to-make-money-but-to-stop-myself-from-going-mad/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [It's wonderful to be able to sit down and write a play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/it-s-wonderful-to-be-able-to-sit-down-and-write-a-play/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [But we are not in the world to be good but to change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/but-we-are-not-in-the-world-to-be-good-but-to-change-it/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [As Shakespeare himself knew, the peace, the reconciliation that he created on the stage would not last an hour on the street.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/as-shakespeare-himself-knew-the-peace-the-reconciliation-that-he/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [We are still living in the aftershock of Hiroshima, people are still the scars of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/we-are-still-living-in-the-aftershock-of-hiroshima-people-are-still/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [The human mind is a dramatic structure in itself and our society is absolutely saturated with drama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/the-human-mind-is-a-dramatic-structure-in-itself-and-our-society-is/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [It's insulting to ask a dramatist what his view of his play is. I have no opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/it-s-insulting-to-ask-a-dramatist-what-his-view-of-his-play-is-i-have/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [Whatever the economy needs to maintain itself, the government will do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/whatever-the-economy-needs-to-maintain-itself-the-government-will-do/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [“O burn the house! You've murdered the husband, slaughtered the cattle, poisoned the well, raped the mother, killed the child - you must burn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/o-burn-the-house-you-ve-murdered-the-husband-slaughtered-the-cattle/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [The one overall structure in my plays is language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/the-one-overall-structure-in-my-plays-is-language/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [“WANG. 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Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“It breaks my heart. 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