--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of the strange things about violent…" description: "\"One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity. If you can make them sufficiently..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/salman-rushdie-153_authoritarian_one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent_660550.jpg" --- # One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian… ![“One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity. If you can make them sufficiently uncomfortable, they frequently respond by doing what you need them to do in the spirit of setting people free or ceasing arrests.” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/salman-rushdie-153_authoritarian_one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent_660550.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/salman-rushdie-153_authoritarian_one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent_660550.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/salman-rushdie-153_authoritarian_one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent_660550.jpg) > “One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity. If you can make them sufficiently uncomfortable, they frequently respond by doing what you need them to do in the spirit of setting people free or ceasing arrests.” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authoritarian regimes fear negative publicity; exposing them can force them to act in ways that benefit freedom. **In simple terms:** Public exposure pressures dictators. Key Takeaway Use media to hold power accountable. Themes politics authoritarianism media freedom Mood critical urgent Type essay political When to use this quote - campaigning against oppression - leveraging press - organizing protests - documenting abuses Key Concepts public opinion strategic exposure human rights activism Questions to Reflect On - What are ethical limits of exposing regimes? - How can citizens protect themselves while confronting power? A Different Perspective Risk of backlash or manipulation of narrative. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authoritarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authoritarian/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Publicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publicity/) [Setting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/setting/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Strange things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-things/) [Uncomfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncomfortable/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) ## Related quotes > [One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent-and-authoritarian-regimes-is-2/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity. If you can make them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent-and-authoritarian-regimes-is-3/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I didn't listen to anyone. I was so violent, so authoritarian, only listening to what I wanted and myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-rykiel/i-didn-t-listen-to-anyone-i-was-so-violent-so-authoritarian-only/) [Sonia Rykiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-rykiel/) > [“Democracy can exist only in the countries where people are brave! Coward nations always live under the authoritarian regimes!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/democracy-can-exist-only-in-the-countries-where-people-are-brave/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [When an authoritarian regime starts taking down feeds and blocking websites just because we expose the truth... that's an attack on freedom of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-zucker/when-an-authoritarian-regime-starts-taking-down-feeds-and-blocking/) [Jeff Zucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-zucker/) > [“authoritarian regimes currently experiencing some growth are likely to reach the limits of extractive growth before they transform their political institutions in a more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daron-acemo-lu/authoritarian-regimes-currently-experiencing-some-growth-are-likely/) [Daron Acemoğlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daron-acemo-lu/) > [The stability and security of authoritarian regimes cannot create but terrorism and violence and destruction. Let us accept the choice of the people. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wadah-khanfar/the-stability-and-security-of-authoritarian-regimes-cannot-create-but/) [Wadah Khanfar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wadah-khanfar/) > [“AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES USUALLY include a special riot police force whose task is to disperse citizens who seek to protest, and a secret state police…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/authoritarian-regimes-usually-include-a-special-riot-police-force/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [Social media now make it easier to organize protest movements, even - or perhaps especially - in authoritarian regimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrystia-freeland/social-media-now-make-it-easier-to-organize-protest-movements-even-or/) [Chrystia Freeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrystia-freeland/) > [Vladimir Putin is creating an axis of authoritarian regimes that he will lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/vladimir-putin-is-creating-an-axis-of-authoritarian-regimes-that-he/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [It is worth asking if advertisements are ever an effective counter against negative publicity. International experience shows that it depends on the issue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sucheta-dalal/it-is-worth-asking-if-advertisements-are-ever-an-effective-counter/) [Sucheta Dalal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sucheta-dalal/) > [With a lot of negative publicity, we have to start thinking positive. When you start thinking positive, you begin to encourage. That's when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-cunningham/with-a-lot-of-negative-publicity-we-have-to-start-thinking-positive/) [Randall Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-cunningham/) > [Short of committing murder, negative publicity sells more seats than positive publicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-o-leary/short-of-committing-murder-negative-publicity-sells-more-seats-than/) [Michael O'Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-o-leary/) > [Trump has been fiercely mocked in the media since the 1980s. But Trump learned from someone to let all the mockery roll off his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-dean/trump-has-been-fiercely-mocked-in-the-media-since-the-1980s-but-trump/) [Michelle Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-dean/) > [In any authoritarian society, the possessor of power dictates, and if you try and step outside, he will come after you. This is equally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/in-any-authoritarian-society-the-possessor-of-power-dictates-and-if/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If you want to be a serious writer, then you have to write what there is to write about. If you're going to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-be-a-serious-writer-then-you-have-to-write-what-there/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Después de exigir mi marcha, ya no posees jurisdicción en lo concerniente a mi salud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/despu-s-de-exigir-mi-marcha-ya-no-posees-jurisdicci-n-en-lo/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If there is a choice between absolute safety and freedom, then freedom must always prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-there-is-a-choice-between-absolute-safety-and-freedom-then-freedom/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) [Explore all 1,087 Salman Rushdie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More Authoritarian quotes > [Sometimes it's easier for people who are in authority to be authoritarian, because people know where you stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meryl-streep/sometimes-it-s-easier-for-people-who-are-in-authority-to-be/) [Meryl Streep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meryl-streep/) > [We very clearly do not want an authoritarian regime... setting standards in the world marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ratcliffe/we-very-clearly-do-not-want-an-authoritarian-regime-setting-standards/) [John Ratcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ratcliffe/) > [Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/cumulatively-american-society-is-sliding-toward-a-new-form-of/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [“If you care about other people, that's now a very dangerous idea. If you care about other people, you might try to organize to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-care-about-other-people-that-s-now-a-very-dangerous-idea-if/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Democracy can exist only in the countries where people are brave! Coward nations always live under the authoritarian regimes!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/democracy-can-exist-only-in-the-countries-where-people-are-brave/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Even more than comparing society to a family, comparing it to a body makes an authoritarian ordering of society seem inevitable, immutable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/even-more-than-comparing-society-to-a-family-comparing-it-to-a-body/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are not and will never be an authoritarian regime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/we-are-not-and-will-never-be-an-authoritarian-regime/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [Why do economists fall in love with authoritarian governments?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasheng-huang/why-do-economists-fall-in-love-with-authoritarian-governments/) Yasheng Huang > [“Just as in the Trump-Giuliani Ukraine conspiracy, we saw a ruthless, single-minded obsession with staying in power; a manifest lack of moral values, shame,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-yovanovitch/just-as-in-the-trump-giuliani-ukraine-conspiracy-we-saw-a-ruthless/) Marie Yovanovitch > [North Korea aside, most authoritarian governments have already accepted the growth of the Internet culture as inevitable; they have little choice but to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/north-korea-aside-most-authoritarian-governments-have-already/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [I am the first authoritarian government elected to become a dictator and then resigning as a dictator. So this is the first dictator in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/i-am-the-first-authoritarian-government-elected-to-become-a-dictator/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [There is an authoritarian strain in all of Leftism-- because the bigger the government, the more it controls other peoples' lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/there-is-an-authoritarian-strain-in-all-of-leftism-because-the-bigger/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [My position and the state will never allow me to become a dictator, but an authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/my-position-and-the-state-will-never-allow-me-to-become-a-dictator/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [You really don't create an authoritarian society unless you control the personal choices including the sexual choices of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hefner/you-really-don-t-create-an-authoritarian-society-unless-you-control/) [Hugh Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hefner/) > [The question is: Particularly in the post-9/11 era, are societies becoming more liberal or more authoritarian?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/the-question-is-particularly-in-the-post-9-11-era-are-societies/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) [Browse all 185 Authoritarian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authoritarian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity. If you can make them sufficiently uncomfortable, they frequently respond by doing what you need them to do in the spirit of setting people free or ceasing arrests.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Salman Rushdie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent-and-authoritarian-regimes-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Authoritarian" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent-and-authoritarian-regimes-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/salman-rushdie-153_authoritarian_one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent_660550.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/salman-rushdie-153_authoritarian_one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent_660550.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/salman-rushdie-153_authoritarian_one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent_660550.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative…” — Salman Rushdie", "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": "Salman Rushdie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One of the strange things about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent-and-authoritarian-regimes-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-strange-things-about-violent-and-authoritarian-regimes-is/#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 } } ] } ```