--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People must be protected from prejudice…" description: "\"People must be protected from prejudice against their person. But people cannot be protected from prejudice against their ideas - because otherwise we'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/236/salman-rushdie-153_done_people-must-be-protected-from-prejudice_2549820.jpg" --- # People must be protected from prejudice against their… ![“People must be protected from prejudice against their person. But people cannot be protected from prejudice against their ideas - because otherwise we're all done.” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/236/salman-rushdie-153_done_people-must-be-protected-from-prejudice_2549820.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/236/salman-rushdie-153_done_people-must-be-protected-from-prejudice_2549820.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/236/salman-rushdie-153_done_people-must-be-protected-from-prejudice_2549820.jpg) > “People must be protected from prejudice against their person. But people cannot be protected from prejudice against their ideas - because otherwise we're all done.” [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. Prejudice against ideas is inevitable; protecting ideas would end free discourse. **In simple terms:** Ideas can be criticized, people should not be. Key Takeaway Defend ideas, not personal attacks. Themes freedom of speech tolerance critical thinking Mood thoughtful defensive Type philosophical political When to use this quote - academic debates - online forums - political campaigns - media commentary Key Concepts liberalism philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do we protect individuals while allowing idea critique? - What limits should be placed on idea criticism? A Different Perspective Balancing protection of individuals with open critique is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) ## Related quotes > [Good and decent people must be protected and persuaded by gentle means, but the rabble must be led by terror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/good-and-decent-people-must-be-protected-and-persuaded-by-gentle/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [My mom started understanding how many people take advantage of a child, so she hired smart people to protect me in that way. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/my-mom-started-understanding-how-many-people-take-advantage-of-a/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [Consider prejudice. Once a person begins to accept a stereotype of a particular group, that "thought" becomes an active agent, "participating" in shaping how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/consider-prejudice-once-a-person-begins-to-accept-a-stereotype-of-a/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [People Should not be protected from the world.. -It cripples them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-humphreys/people-should-not-be-protected-from-the-world-it-cripples-them/) [Josephine Humphreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-humphreys/) > [If the YSRCP is voted to power, agriculture sector will be given top priority. The interests of all sections of people will be protected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/y-s-jaganmohan-reddy/if-the-ysrcp-is-voted-to-power-agriculture-sector-will-be-given-top/) [Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/y-s-jaganmohan-reddy/) > [You can't succeed in beating the insurgents unless you can convince the people that they can be protected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-beers/you-can-t-succeed-in-beating-the-insurgents-unless-you-can-convince/) [Rand Beers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-beers/) > [I want my people to be protected, strong, and not to be driven into corners until they either become killers or are killed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-want-my-people-to-be-protected-strong-and-not-to-be-driven-into/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I think people should be protected from being made to feel that they want to know what somebody famous had for breakfast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/i-think-people-should-be-protected-from-being-made-to-feel-that-they/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. 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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. 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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. 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Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [I'm a business first and foremost so whatever my business is, it's separate from my personal. It's like whatever I do business wise, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snoop-dogg/i-m-a-business-first-and-foremost-so-whatever-my-business-is-it-s/) [Snoop Dogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snoop-dogg/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. 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