--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Gradual change is in principle, of…" description: "\"“Gradual change is in principle, of course, a good idea, certainly in countries where a blatant disregard for civil liberties go hand in hand with outr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ce/john-r-bradley-7263_censor_gradual-change-is-in-principle-of-course_3116697.jpg" --- # Gradual change is in principle, of course, a good idea… ![“Gradual change is in principle, of course, a good idea, certainly in countries where a blatant disregard for civil liberties go hand in hand with outright brutality and a plundering of the nation’s resources. In such instances—and in the Arab world Egypt is an obvious example—any long reign of…” quote by John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ce/john-r-bradley-7263_censor_gradual-change-is-in-principle-of-course_3116697.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ce/john-r-bradley-7263_censor_gradual-change-is-in-principle-of-course_3116697.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ce/john-r-bradley-7263_censor_gradual-change-is-in-principle-of-course_3116697.jpg) > ““Gradual change is in principle, of course, a good idea, certainly in countries where a blatant disregard for civil liberties go hand in hand with outright brutality and a plundering of the nation’s resources. In such instances—and in the Arab world Egypt is an obvious example—any long reign of extreme censorship especially tends to hamper not only cultural expression, but the capacity for it as well. The most extreme example, Saudi Arabia, is a country now devoid of art or culture of any value whatsoever, Islamic or otherwise, official or clandestine. Under such circumstances, censorship, like any prohibition, strangles the soul, not only of the censored but of the censor, too, so that over time the authorities find themselves turning in an ever tighter circle as the perimeter of the permissible draws in.”” [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Censorship kills both creators and enforcers, leading societies into cultural decay and tighter oppression. **In simple terms:** Censorship harms everyone involved. Key Takeaway Protect free expression. Themes censorship culture authoritarianism societal decay artistic freedom Mood somber critical Type analytical political When to use this quote - government policy - media regulation - education curricula - public protest Key Concepts totalitarian control psychological oppression resource plundering Questions to Reflect On - How does censorship affect the censor? - Can cultural resilience survive under strict bans? A Different Perspective Even limited freedom can be co-opted by power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Censor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censor/) [Censorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censorship/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Civil liberties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-liberties/) [Hand in hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hand-in-hand/) ## Related quotes > [There's lot of social censorship now, especially in this era of ubiquitous social media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/there-s-lot-of-social-censorship-now-especially-in-this-era-of/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [I don't agree with most forms of censorship, and I especially don't agree with the idea that one needs to be from the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shepard-fairey/i-don-t-agree-with-most-forms-of-censorship-and-i-especially-don-t/) [Shepard Fairey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shepard-fairey/) > [“Our freedoms are vanishing. If you do not get active to take a stand now against all that is wrong while we still can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/our-freedoms-are-vanishing-if-you-do-not-get-active-to-take-a-stand-2/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [I'm not interested in censorship. I like the First Amendment very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-m-not-interested-in-censorship-i-like-the-first-amendment-very-much/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [We have this sort of tacit censorship, which is the ratings system, and it's directly tied to box office, so it is censorship. Like,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zemeckis/we-have-this-sort-of-tacit-censorship-which-is-the-ratings-system-and/) [Robert Zemeckis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zemeckis/) > [“Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there." - Claire Booth Luce”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-booth-luce/censorship-like-charity-should-begin-at-home-but-unlike-charity-it-2/) Claire Booth Luce > [Never in my life have I seen an unholy trinity of censorship like I've seen with the power of government, big tech, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-travis/never-in-my-life-have-i-seen-an-unholy-trinity-of-censorship-like-i/) [Clay Travis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-travis/) > [Censorship, like charity, should begin at home, but, unlike charity, it should end there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-boothe-luce/censorship-like-charity-should-begin-at-home-but-unlike-charity-it/) [Clare Boothe Luce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare-boothe-luce/) > [I don't approve of censorship. I like the French theatre idea. Put on the play, and if the audience doesn't care for it, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-huston/i-don-t-approve-of-censorship-i-like-the-french-theatre-idea-put-on/) [John Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-huston/) > [“Pick a leader who will keep jobs in your country by offering companies incentives to hire only within their borders, not one who allows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/pick-a-leader-who-will-keep-jobs-in-your-country-by-offering/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/granville-hicks/a-censor-is-a-man-who-knows-more-than-he-thinks-you-ought-to/) Granville Hicks > [Censorship makes me really angry. I even hate it when people censor themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-stone/censorship-makes-me-really-angry-i-even-hate-it-when-people-censor/) [Emma Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-stone/) > [Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/any-test-that-turns-on-what-is-offensive-to-the-community-s-standards/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [Satire that the censor understands is rightly censored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/satire-that-the-censor-understands-is-rightly-censored/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [When a critic sets himself up as an arbiter of morality, a judge of the matter and not the manner of a work, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-a-critic-sets-himself-up-as-an-arbiter-of-morality-a-judge-of/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) ## More by John R. Bradley > [“But if Nasser's gift to the Egyptians was their sense of pride, Mubarak's curse is to have created a cultural climate where the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/but-if-nasser-s-gift-to-the-egyptians-was-their-sense-of-pride/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“However, since the Syrian regime is even less transparent than the NGOs, we have no way of knowing that, either.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/however-since-the-syrian-regime-is-even-less-transparent-than-the/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“After the attack, it was again the image of the country, rather than the well-being of those who had been caught up in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/after-the-attack-it-was-again-the-image-of-the-country-rather-than/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Because Islam is so tightly bound up with Acehnese exceptionalism, it has since the introduction of Islamic law become the territory’s version of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/because-islam-is-so-tightly-bound-up-with-acehnese-exceptionalism-it/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“After all, there is in more stable, developed countries like the United States and Britain a quantifiably more vicious culture of child abuse. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/after-all-there-is-in-more-stable-developed-countries-like-the-united/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“After that fateful day of July 23, 1952, the "Paris Along the Nile," as Cairo was lovingly renamed by the foreigners who flocked to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/after-that-fateful-day-of-july-23-1952-the-paris-along-the-nile-as/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Mansour earned the nickname "Al-Turbiny," from the air-conditioned express trains linking Cairo with Egypt's second city Alexandria, whose roofs were the favored location for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/mansour-earned-the-nickname-al-turbiny-from-the-air-conditioned/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“The situation is complicated, though, in a country like Tunisia, where sudden and dramatic change in favor of Western-style democracy at this juncture does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/the-situation-is-complicated-though-in-a-country-like-tunisia-where/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Nothing gives your average bored Sunni bigot surfing the web more instant gratification than zooming in on sigeh to condemn the Shia as debauched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/nothing-gives-your-average-bored-sunni-bigot-surfing-the-web-more/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“despite having a thriving gay prostitution scene, Damascus is unlike just about every other Middle Eastern city I have visited in not having any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/despite-having-a-thriving-gay-prostitution-scene-damascus-is-unlike/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“The Arab Spring has been a dismal failure. All indications are that what comes next will be significantly worse than what existed before, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/the-arab-spring-has-been-a-dismal-failure-all-indications-are-that/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“An investigative report by the BBC in July 2007 found that thousands of young Egyptian men try to enter Europe illegally every year. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/an-investigative-report-by-the-bbc-in-july-2007-found-that-thousands/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“A secularist but not an atheist, he used the example of the Prophet, who according to tradition did not fast in Ramadan during wartime,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/a-secularist-but-not-an-atheist-he-used-the-example-of-the-prophet/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Malaysia, then, offers an example of what happens when socalled moderate Islamists are appeased by the liberal elite. They provide cover for their more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/malaysia-then-offers-an-example-of-what-happens-when-socalled/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Saudi Arabia’s media and schools spew constant anti-Semitic venom, but the Al-Saud regime loathes Tehran much more than Tel Aviv. In Egypt, for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/saudi-arabia-s-media-and-schools-spew-constant-anti-semitic-venom-but/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) [Explore all 92 John R. Bradley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) ## More Censor quotes > [When a critic sets himself up as an arbiter of morality, a judge of the matter and not the manner of a work, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-a-critic-sets-himself-up-as-an-arbiter-of-morality-a-judge-of/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Satire that the censor understands is rightly censored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/satire-that-the-censor-understands-is-rightly-censored/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/any-test-that-turns-on-what-is-offensive-to-the-community-s-standards/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [Censorship makes me really angry. I even hate it when people censor themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-stone/censorship-makes-me-really-angry-i-even-hate-it-when-people-censor/) [Emma Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-stone/) > [A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/granville-hicks/a-censor-is-a-man-who-knows-more-than-he-thinks-you-ought-to/) Granville Hicks > [“Pick a leader who will keep jobs in your country by offering companies incentives to hire only within their borders, not one who allows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/pick-a-leader-who-will-keep-jobs-in-your-country-by-offering/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [A performance art piece is unprecedented. It is difficult to censor since it has a good possibility of never being done before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bowman/a-performance-art-piece-is-unprecedented-it-is-difficult-to-censor/) [Jack Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-bowman/) > [I think the enemy is self-censorship. In a free society the biggest danger is that you're afraid to the point where you censor yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-robbins/i-think-the-enemy-is-self-censorship-in-a-free-society-the-biggest/) [Tim Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-robbins/) > [Film is such a powerful medium. It's like a weapon and I think you have a duty to self-censor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-jackson/film-is-such-a-powerful-medium-it-s-like-a-weapon-and-i-think-you/) [Peter Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-jackson/) > [Metellus Numidicus, the censor, acknowledged to the Roman people, in a public oration, that had kind nature allowed us to exist without the help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/metellus-numidicus-the-censor-acknowledged-to-the-roman-people-in-a/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“To be clear, Goodreads staff have not been deleting any posts. A value we've always had here is that we don't censor content (unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-y-chandler/to-be-clear-goodreads-staff-have-not-been-deleting-any-posts-a-value/) Otis Y. Chandler > [One could think of ways to defeat the censor. I could put up the answers on my Facebook page or website or Counterpunch. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ali/one-could-think-of-ways-to-defeat-the-censor-i-could-put-up-the/) [Tariq Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ali/) > [“I struggle each day not to let the fear of the censor poison my writing. Where the censor rules, a dull sameness creeps into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mazer/i-struggle-each-day-not-to-let-the-fear-of-the-censor-poison-my/) Harry Mazer > [Words alone can rarely justify censorship. If we censor words themselves without looking at the context, we could shut down much of the entertainment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-walczak/words-alone-can-rarely-justify-censorship-if-we-censor-words/) Witold Walczak > [An actor cannot be a censor. I'm there to interpret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-mcdowell/an-actor-cannot-be-a-censor-i-m-there-to-interpret/) [Malcolm McDowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-mcdowell/) [Browse all 167 Censor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Gradual change is in principle, of course, a good idea, certainly in countries where a blatant disregard for civil liberties go hand in hand with outright brutality and a plundering of the nation’s resources. In such instances—and in the Arab world Egypt is an obvious example—any long reign of extreme censorship especially tends to hamper not only cultural expression, but the capacity for it as well. The most extreme example, Saudi Arabia, is a country now devoid of art or culture of any value whatsoever, Islamic or otherwise, official or clandestine. 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