--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was petrified because all my friends…" description: "\"I was petrified because all my friends would be going to Washington, DC, to protest. I was sixteen, and I was like, \"I don't think I'll be going with y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/gus-van-sant-5023_authority_i-was-petrified-because-all-my-friends-w_376480.jpg" --- # I was petrified because all my friends would be going to… ![“I was petrified because all my friends would be going to Washington, DC, to protest. I was sixteen, and I was like, "I don't think I'll be going with you guys," just because I was scared. Then you saw the news, and cops - not students in schools with guns - cops are killing sixteen year old…” quote by Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/gus-van-sant-5023_authority_i-was-petrified-because-all-my-friends-w_376480.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/gus-van-sant-5023_authority_i-was-petrified-because-all-my-friends-w_376480.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/gus-van-sant-5023_authority_i-was-petrified-because-all-my-friends-w_376480.jpg) > “I was petrified because all my friends would be going to Washington, DC, to protest. I was sixteen, and I was like, "I don't think I'll be going with you guys," just because I was scared. Then you saw the news, and cops - not students in schools with guns - cops are killing sixteen year old protesters on the news. To me that was more horrifying, to have the authority figures actually killing people on the evening news, than to have another student firing a gun.” [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fear can paralyze, but witnessing injustice can ignite courage and action. **In simple terms:** Fear stops you; injustice can push you forward. Key Takeaway Let fear motivate, not stop you. Themes courage justice activism Mood anxious determined Type motivational reflective When to use this quote - protest participation - community organizing - personal growth Key Concepts psychology social influence Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn fear into purposeful action? - What role does witnessing injustice play in personal change? A Different Perspective Fear may also cause inaction if not addressed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Authority figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority-figures/) [Cop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cop/) [Evening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evening/) [Gun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gun/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Sixteen year olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sixteen-year-olds/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Washington dc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/washington-dc/) ## Related quotes > [When I was a child at sixteen, I was just a child. All sixteen year-olds are just children. As much as we like them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-abagnale/when-i-was-a-child-at-sixteen-i-was-just-a-child-all-sixteen-year/) [Frank Abagnale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-abagnale/) > [I went to art school actually when I was sixteen years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/i-went-to-art-school-actually-when-i-was-sixteen-years-old/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [ On one occasion some one put a very little wine into a \[glass\], and said that it was sixteen years old. 'It is very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athenaeus/on-one-occasion-some-one-put-a-very-little-wine-into-a-glass-and-said/) [Athenaeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athenaeus/) > [I watch life trickle from the bullet wound of a sixteen-year-old "example" and marvel how things weak, even words, will turn vicious and merciless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-abulhawa/i-watch-life-trickle-from-the-bullet-wound-of-a-sixteen-year-old/) [Susan Abulhawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-abulhawa/) > [You know why they say that, that models are too skinny? Because parents are horrible, they can't tell their sixteen year old daughter she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tosh/you-know-why-they-say-that-that-models-are-too-skinny-because-parents/) [Daniel Tosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tosh/) > [todays the first anniversary of the asteroid hitting the moon. A year ago i was sixteen years old, a sophomore in high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-beth-pfeffer/todays-the-first-anniversary-of-the-asteroid-hitting-the-moon-a-year/) [Susan Beth Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-beth-pfeffer/) > [You must have a certain amount of maturity to be a poet. Seldom do sixteen-year-olds know themselves well enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/you-must-have-a-certain-amount-of-maturity-to-be-a-poet-seldom-do/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Turbulent childhood, adolescent daydreams in the drone of the bus's motor, mornings, unspoiled girls, beaches, young muscles always at the peak of their effort,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/turbulent-childhood-adolescent-daydreams-in-the-drone-of-the-bus-s/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Fifteen-year-old girls produce children with sixteen-year-old boys in the backseat of cars and in the stairwells of apartment buildings. Why can't two loving adults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-simon/fifteen-year-old-girls-produce-children-with-sixteen-year-old-boys-in/) [Scott Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-simon/) > [Stupid Sixteen year old kid falling from the sky! I'm late!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/stupid-sixteen-year-old-kid-falling-from-the-sky-i-m-late/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [A baseball bat could not have hit me harder than that smile did. I was sixteen years old. In that time, how many thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/a-baseball-bat-could-not-have-hit-me-harder-than-that-smile-did-i-was/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [Believe me, you can get into a lot of trouble being sixteen years old in a foreign country with no adult telling you when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-diaz/believe-me-you-can-get-into-a-lot-of-trouble-being-sixteen-years-old/) [Cameron Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-diaz/) > [I intend to give my eighty-two-year-old dad a copy of God Never Blinks. I will also buy one for a sixteen-year-old friend. This wise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/i-intend-to-give-my-eighty-two-year-old-dad-a-copy-of-god-never/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [We don't need women. There are plenty other things in the world to have sex with, just go to a sexaholics meeting and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-don-t-need-women-there-are-plenty-other-things-in-the-world-to/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [you're infamous, Tally. Everyone's terrified of you. The new system may have made the other cities nervous, but they seem to think my little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/you-re-infamous-tally-everyone-s-terrified-of-you-the-new-system-may/) [Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/) ## More by Gus Van Sant > [The things that inform student culture are created and controlled by the unseen culture, the sociological aspects of our climbing culture, our 'me' generation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/the-things-that-inform-student-culture-are-created-and-controlled-by/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I mean, I think I'm pretty sentimental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/i-mean-i-think-i-m-pretty-sentimental/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [Usually people just hire me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/usually-people-just-hire-me/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [My family moved a lot as a kid. We started in Colorado, where I lived for five years. We moved to Chicago for two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/my-family-moved-a-lot-as-a-kid-we-started-in-colorado-where-i-lived/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [No construction stiff working overtime takes more stress and straining than we did just to stay high.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/no-construction-stiff-working-overtime-takes-more-stress-and/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I've told people who have just started to make a film that the one thing you might experience is this feeling that everybody is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/i-ve-told-people-who-have-just-started-to-make-a-film-that-the-one/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [A lot of times, I relied on connections through my agency, just for financing and things like that. Even when I'm looking for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/a-lot-of-times-i-relied-on-connections-through-my-agency-just-for/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I'm a junkie. I like drugs, I like the whole lifestyle, but it just didn't pay off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/i-m-a-junkie-i-like-drugs-i-like-the-whole-lifestyle-but-it-just-didn/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [There are all kinds of ways that people present their films, but that's kind of a good feeling, if you can make it seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/there-are-all-kinds-of-ways-that-people-present-their-films-but-that/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I find it interesting, the different rules that apply to journalism and drama, even though journalism has become more and more about entertainment, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/i-find-it-interesting-the-different-rules-that-apply-to-journalism/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [As I do with most films, I try and find some music that you could use throughout, not just a sampling of lots of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/as-i-do-with-most-films-i-try-and-find-some-music-that-you-could-use/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [When you're on a film and you're doubting something, it's usually because you don't think the audience is going to like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/when-you-re-on-a-film-and-you-re-doubting-something-it-s-usually/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I don't usually direct actors in the classic sense of that word. 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However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/i-think-people-need-to-be-comfortable-questioning-the-authority-of-a/) [Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [“I'm of the age and immaturity level that I cannot give you my respect solely because you are older or ranked higher on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-goros/i-m-of-the-age-and-immaturity-level-that-i-cannot-give-you-my-respect/) [Erica Goros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-goros/) > [In the end theologians are jealous of science, for they are aware that it has greater authority than do their own ways of finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-the-end-theologians-are-jealous-of-science-for-they-are-aware-that/) [Jerry A. 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Hamas has a vision and a program, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-haniyeh/the-victory-of-hamas-is-not-only-based-on-the-corruption-of-the/) [Ismail Haniyeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-haniyeh/) [Browse all 4,003 Authority quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was petrified because all my friends would be going to Washington, DC, to protest. I was sixteen, and I was like, \"I don't think I'll be going with you guys,\" just because I was scared. Then you saw the news, and cops - not students in schools with guns - cops are killing sixteen year old protesters on the news. 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