--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we must eliminate are systems of…" description: "\"What we must eliminate are systems of representation that carry with them the authority which has become repressive because it doesn't permit or make r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/edward-said-6412_authority_what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-re_205621.jpg" --- # What we must eliminate are systems of representation that… ![“What we must eliminate are systems of representation that carry with them the authority which has become repressive because it doesn't permit or make room for interventions on the part of those represented.” quote by Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/edward-said-6412_authority_what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-re_205621.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/edward-said-6412_authority_what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-re_205621.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/edward-said-6412_authority_what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-re_205621.jpg) > “What we must eliminate are systems of representation that carry with them the authority which has become repressive because it doesn't permit or make room for interventions on the part of those represented.” [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that oppressive authority stems from representational systems that silence the represented, preventing their agency. **In simple terms:** Powerful representations can suppress those they describe. Key Takeaway Challenge and change restrictive narratives. Themes authority representation power silence Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - education reform - media analysis - policy making - community activism Key Concepts postcolonial theory critical theory hegemony Questions to Reflect On - How do we identify oppressive representations? - What alternatives empower the represented? A Different Perspective Such systems can also provide structure and identity, making change complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Authority Repressive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority-repressive-2135566/) [Carry Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carry-authority-2135567/) [Intervention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intervention/) [Permit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permit/) [Representation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representation/) [Representation Carry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representation-carry-2135568/) [Repressive Doesn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repressive-doesn-2135569/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) ## Related quotes > [But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-constant-experience-shows-us-that-every-man-invested-with-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When we pray in the name of Jesus, we carry the authority of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ludy/when-we-pray-in-the-name-of-jesus-we-carry-the-authority-of-heaven/) [Eric Ludy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ludy/) > [The other view is of the official United States, the United States of armies and interventions. 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It is not a uni-verse -- there is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/every-second-the-universe-divides-into-possibilities-and-most-of/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [An excessive preponderance of an idealistic mood is harmful to society: it creates daydreaming, political Don Quixotism, hope for heavenly intervention. This is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henryk-sienkiewicz/an-excessive-preponderance-of-an-idealistic-mood-is-harmful-to/) [Henryk Sienkiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henryk-sienkiewicz/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I'm super-obsessed with 'Intervention.' I wrote a song about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/i-m-super-obsessed-with-intervention-i-wrote-a-song-about-it/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) ## More by Edward Said > [Beginning is not only a kind of action. It is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/beginning-is-not-only-a-kind-of-action-it-is-also-a-frame-of-mind-a/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [It's very hard, for example, to justify the thirty-four-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It's very hard to justify 140 Israeli settlements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-s-very-hard-for-example-to-justify-the-thirty-four-year-occupation/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[9/11\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/9-11-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason-than-to-do-it/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Look at situations as contingent, not as inevitable, look at them as the result of a series of historical choices made by men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/look-at-situations-as-contingent-not-as-inevitable-look-at-them-as/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I was one of the first people in the Palestinian world, in the late 1970s, to say that there is no military option, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-was-one-of-the-first-people-in-the-palestinian-world-in-the-late/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Take a young man from Gaza living in the most horrendous conditions - most of it imposed by Israel - who straps dynamite around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/take-a-young-man-from-gaza-living-in-the-most-horrendous-conditions/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[One task of intellectuals is\] to break down the stereotypes and reductive categories that are . . . limiting to human thought and communication. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/one-task-of-intellectuals-is-to-break-down-the-stereotypes-and/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. What I do know, however, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-never-known-what-is-arabic-or-english-or-which-one-was-really/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/every-single-empire-in-its-official-discourse-has-said-that-it-is-not/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ The just response to this terrible event \[9/11\] should be to go immediately to the world community, the United Nations. 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