--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If someone asks you why you're oppressing…" description: "\"“If someone asks you why you're oppressing a world and you reply with a lot of poetic crap, no. I guess there can't be a meeting of minds.”\" — Roger Ze..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/roger-zelazny-1604_consensus_if-someone-asks-you-why-you-re-oppressin_2022065.png" --- # If someone asks you why you're oppressing a world and you… ![“If someone asks you why you're oppressing a world and you reply with a lot of poetic crap, no. I guess there can't be a meeting of minds.” quote by Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/roger-zelazny-1604_consensus_if-someone-asks-you-why-you-re-oppressin_2022065.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/roger-zelazny-1604_consensus_if-someone-asks-you-why-you-re-oppressin_2022065.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/roger-zelazny-1604_consensus_if-someone-asks-you-why-you-re-oppressin_2022065.png) > ““If someone asks you why you're oppressing a world and you reply with a lot of poetic crap, no. I guess there can't be a meeting of minds.”” [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) ## 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 critiques superficial poetic responses to serious oppression, suggesting they fail to bridge understanding. **In simple terms:** Poetry can’t replace genuine dialogue about oppression. Key Takeaway Seek authentic communication over empty rhetoric. Themes politics communication art authenticity Mood critical skeptical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - activism - public discourse - creative expression - conflict resolution Key Concepts Poetry oppression dialogue Questions to Reflect On - Can poetic language ever effectively address systemic issues? - What alternatives foster true understanding? A Different Perspective Artistic language may be dismissed as insufficient. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consensus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consensus/) [Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppression/) [Poetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [A good marriage winds up as a meeting of minds, which had better be pretty good to start with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-good-marriage-winds-up-as-a-meeting-of-minds-which-had-better-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My dad and I had a real meeting of the minds. We loved to talk about music, politics, and art. He loved children. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosanne-cash/my-dad-and-i-had-a-real-meeting-of-the-minds-we-loved-to-talk-about/) [Rosanne Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosanne-cash/) > [This work is the result of a meeting of minds from two of the most successful men in their respective fields.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-carling/this-work-is-the-result-of-a-meeting-of-minds-from-two-of-the-most/) [Will Carling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-carling/) > [A dream is the meeting of minds; an event in our waking consciousness is the coming together of sensible substances. Hence our feelings by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lie-yukou/a-dream-is-the-meeting-of-minds-an-event-in-our-waking-consciousness/) Lie Yukou > [“We’re not even in the same year together, let alone the same room  . . . . except we are together. We’re close. 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Besteman > [Right now, computers, which are supposed to be our servant, are oppressing us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jef-raskin/right-now-computers-which-are-supposed-to-be-our-servant-are/) [Jef Raskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jef-raskin/) > [Nationalism has a way of oppressing others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/nationalism-has-a-way-of-oppressing-others/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“What you're going through is not meant to hurt you, but meant to deliver you from the evil oppressing you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-coron/what-you-re-going-through-is-not-meant-to-hurt-you-but-meant-to/) [Jeanette Coron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-coron/) ## More by Roger Zelazny > [“I was willing to die fighting, but it was senseless for all these men to go down with me. Perhaps my blood was tainted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/i-was-willing-to-die-fighting-but-it-was-senseless-for-all-these-men/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [I know, too, that death is the only god who comes when you call.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/i-know-too-that-death-is-the-only-god-who-comes-when-you-call/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [There's no such thing as civilization. The word just means the art of living in cities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/there-s-no-such-thing-as-civilization-the-word-just-means-the-art-of/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [“Time, too, is a function of Shadow, and even Dworkin did not know all of its ins and outs. Or perhaps he did. Maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/time-too-is-a-function-of-shadow-and-even-dworkin-did-not-know-all-of/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [I've always been impulsive. My thinking is usually pretty good, but I always seem to do it after I do my talking — by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/i-ve-always-been-impulsive-my-thinking-is-usually-pretty-good-but-i/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [“And again, damn. Of troubles I considered myself amply possessed. But those who have do seem to get. Some spiritual form of compound interest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/and-again-damn-of-troubles-i-considered-myself-amply-possessed-but/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [“Far below, the ocean was a bluegray rug being pulled out from beneath us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/far-below-the-ocean-was-a-bluegray-rug-being-pulled-out-from-beneath/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [A powerful flight of the imagination . . . an entirely enjoyable reading experience, wrought by a pair of writers noted for excellence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/a-powerful-flight-of-the-imagination-an-entirely-enjoyable-reading/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [The function of criticism should not be confused with the function of reform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/the-function-of-criticism-should-not-be-confused-with-the-function-of/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [I always wanted to write, ever since I was a kid. 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I read, I worked, I drank, I whored, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/that-was-the-first-time-in-my-life-that-i-knew-the-meaning-of-despair/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [“I watched until the sizzlecloud drew its legs up into itself, hung like a burning cocoon, then died like an ember retreating into ash.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/i-watched-until-the-sizzlecloud-drew-its-legs-up-into-itself-hung/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [To waste! You are unknown and unwanted, save by me. This, because you are fairly adept at the various embalming arts and you occasionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/to-waste-you-are-unknown-and-unwanted-save-by-me-this-because-you-are/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [I watched the spinning stars, grateful, sad and proud, as only a man who has outlived his destiny and realizes he might yet forge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/i-watched-the-spinning-stars-grateful-sad-and-proud-as-only-a-man-who/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) [Explore all 220 Roger Zelazny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) ## More Consensus quotes > [There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. ... No great party can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/there-are-dangers-in-consensus-it-could-be-an-attempt-to-satisfy/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [The "family" has clearly emerged anew in the late 1970s as a central subject for discussion, debate, research and writing in bothscholarly and popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/the-family-has-clearly-emerged-anew-in-the-late-1970s-as-a-central/) Sheila Kamerman > [As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-a-leader-i-have-always-endeavored-to-listen-to-what-each-and-every/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [The vision of extraordinary achievement is,by definition, a few steps beyond consensus and conventional logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-belsky/the-vision-of-extraordinary-achievement-is-by-definition-a-few-steps/) [Scott Belsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-belsky/) > [The scientific consensus is that climate change is real, urgent, and caused by humans. This science should be both supported and understood by anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-schatz/the-scientific-consensus-is-that-climate-change-is-real-urgent-and/) [Brian Schatz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-schatz/) > [People of good character are not all going to come down on the same side of difficult political and social issues. Good people-people of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bennett/people-of-good-character-are-not-all-going-to-come-down-on-the-same/) [William Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bennett/) > [Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation and consensus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mainwaring/effectively-change-is-almost-impossible-without-industry-wide/) [Simon Mainwaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mainwaring/) > [Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/those-who-know-that-the-consensus-of-many-centuries-has-sanctioned/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [The culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse population of Indian and Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir has been unable to reach a consensus on the future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/the-culturally-linguistically-and-religiously-diverse-population-of/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [We are in a crisis today because the practical consensus between the left and the right, linking economic efficiency with social protection, has broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-glucksmann/we-are-in-a-crisis-today-because-the-practical-consensus-between-the/) Andre Glucksmann > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Our normal expectations about reality are created by a social consensus. We are taught how to see and understand the world. The trick of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/our-normal-expectations-about-reality-are-created-by-a-social/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [I always worked as an individual artist even when Group Material asked me to join the group. There are certain things that I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-gonzalez-torres/i-always-worked-as-an-individual-artist-even-when-group-material/) Felix Gonzalez-Torres > [“But perhaps the greatest threat is that we lack the mechanism of consensus, a way of making up our collective minds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-k-greenleaf/but-perhaps-the-greatest-threat-is-that-we-lack-the-mechanism-of/) [Robert K. Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-k-greenleaf/) > [There's a growing consensus that the best way to defeat communism in Cuba is to get its citizens hooked on American goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/there-s-a-growing-consensus-that-the-best-way-to-defeat-communism-in/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) [Browse all 564 Consensus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consensus/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If someone asks you why you're oppressing a world and you reply with a lot of poetic crap, no. 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