--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They cripple the bird's wing, and then…" description: "\"They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.\" — Malcolm X" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/malcolm-x-213_bird_they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-co_2815137.jpg" --- # They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not… ![“They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.” quote by Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/malcolm-x-213_bird_they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-co_2815137.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/malcolm-x-213_bird_they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-co_2815137.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/malcolm-x-213_bird_they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-co_2815137.jpg) > “They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.” [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society often limits those it deems inferior, then blames them for not meeting biased expectations. **In simple terms:** Oppression leads to unfair blame. Key Takeaway Challenge systemic oppression and its narratives. Themes justice oppression bias Mood determined hopeful Type political motivational When to use this quote - education - policy reform - community activism Key Concepts sociology ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can we support those marginalized? - What biases exist in our expectations? A Different Perspective Change requires confronting entrenched power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) ## Related quotes > [Man is flying too fast for a world that is round. Soon he will catch up with himself in a great rear end collision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/man-is-flying-too-fast-for-a-world-that-is-round-soon-he-will-catch/) [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) > [“If a bird has one wing it cannot fly, no matter how strong it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/if-a-bird-has-one-wing-it-cannot-fly-no-matter-how-strong-it-is/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring The Winter Garment of Repentance fling: The Bird of Time has but a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/come-fill-the-cup-and-in-the-fire-of-spring-the-winter-garment-of/) [Omar Khayyam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) > [High in the sky is a bird on a wing Please carry me with you Far far away from the mad rushing crowd Please…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-springfield/high-in-the-sky-is-a-bird-on-a-wing-please-carry-me-with-you-far-far/) Tom Springfield > [To a Young Poet Time cannot break the bird's wing from the bird. 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Most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-role-of-the-writer-is-not-to-say-what-we-can-all-say-but-what-we/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [the greater part of the suffering in the world is caused not by wicked intents and hard hearts, but by the careless desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marah-ellis-ryan/the-greater-part-of-the-suffering-in-the-world-is-caused-not-by/) [Marah Ellis Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marah-ellis-ryan/) ## More by Malcolm X > [If Christianity had asserted itself in Germany, six million Jews would have lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/if-christianity-had-asserted-itself-in-germany-six-million-jews-would/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [American civil rights leader, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Lynching is a murder. For the past four hundred years our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/american-civil-rights-leader-where-do-we-go-from-here-chaos-or/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Be nonviolent only with those who are nonviolent to you. 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It take, it took, I think, 15,000 troops and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-mean-a-real-police-state-just-to-get-a-token-recognition-of-a-law/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Like Samson, I am ready to pull down the white man's temple, knowing full well that I will be destroyed by the falling rubble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/like-samson-i-am-ready-to-pull-down-the-white-man-s-temple-knowing/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Any negro who occupies a position that was given to him by the white man, if you analyze his function, his function never enables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/any-negro-who-occupies-a-position-that-was-given-to-him-by-the-white/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Stumbling is not falling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/stumbling-is-not-falling/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [God is going to punish the white man for his misdeeds toward black people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/god-is-going-to-punish-the-white-man-for-his-misdeeds-toward-black/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/much-of-what-i-say-might-sound-like-it-s-stirring-up-trouble-but-it-s/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I believe in the brotherhood of all men, but I don't believe in wasting brotherhood on anyone who doesn't want to practice it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-believe-in-the-brotherhood-of-all-men-but-i-don-t-believe-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) [Explore all 891 Malcolm X quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. 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He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Malcolm X" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-condemn-it-for-not-flying-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-condemn-it-for-not-flying-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/malcolm-x-213_bird_they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-co_2815137.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/malcolm-x-213_bird_they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-co_2815137.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f5/malcolm-x-213_bird_they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-co_2815137.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.” — Malcolm X", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Malcolm X", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "They cripple the bird's wing, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-condemn-it-for-not-flying-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/they-cripple-the-bird-s-wing-and-then-condemn-it-for-not-flying-as/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```