--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Guile is the shield and spear of the…" description: "\"“Guile is the shield and spear of the oppressed.”\" — Thornton Wilder" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/thornton-wilder-1495_guile_guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-opp_823551.jpg" --- # Guile is the shield and spear of the oppressed. ![“Guile is the shield and spear of the oppressed.” quote by Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/thornton-wilder-1495_guile_guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-opp_823551.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/thornton-wilder-1495_guile_guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-opp_823551.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/thornton-wilder-1495_guile_guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-opp_823551.jpg) > ““Guile is the shield and spear of the oppressed.”” [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The oppressed use both defense and offense, symbolized by a shield and spear, to resist domination. **In simple terms:** Oppressed use defense and attack to resist. Key Takeaway Combine protection with action. Themes resistance oppression strategy Mood strategic empowering Type political inspirational When to use this quote - protests - community organizing - advocacy Key Concepts social movements power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What nonviolent shields can be used? - How to balance defense and offense? A Different Perspective Violence may alienate allies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Guile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guile/) [Guile Shield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guile-shield-494007/) [Oppressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppressed/) [Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppression/) [Shield Spear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shield-spear-494008/) [Spear Oppressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spear-oppressed-494006/) ## Related quotes > [“Match between the best shield and spear. Which will win?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tadatoshi-fujimaki/match-between-the-best-shield-and-spear-which-will-win/) [Tadatoshi Fujimaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tadatoshi-fujimaki/) > [An oppressed people are authorized whenever they can to rise and break their fetters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay/an-oppressed-people-are-authorized-whenever-they-can-to-rise-and/) [Henry Clay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay/) > [Our task is not to liberate the oppressed, but to liberate the oppressors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/our-task-is-not-to-liberate-the-oppressed-but-to-liberate-the/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [Hitherto, every form of society has been based ... on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/hitherto-every-form-of-society-has-been-based-on-the-antagonism-of/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [“The oppressed, having internalised the image of the oppressor and adopted his guideline are fearful of freedom. Freedom would require them to eject this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-oppressed-having-internalised-the-image-of-the-oppressor-and/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber. Religion reminds every man that he is his brother's keeper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-oppressed-must-never-allow-the-conscience-of-the-oppressor-to/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [In order to create an alternative an oppressed group must at once shatter the self-reflecting world which encircles it and, at the same time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/in-order-to-create-an-alternative-an-oppressed-group-must-at-once/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [The hell of human suffering, evil and oppression is paved with good intentions. 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I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marwan-barghouti/i-am-not-a-terrorist-but-neither-am-i-a-pacifist-i-am-simply-a/) [Marwan Barghouti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marwan-barghouti/) > [The oppressed without hope are mysteriously quiet. When the conception of change is beyond the limits of the possible, there are no words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/the-oppressed-without-hope-are-mysteriously-quiet-when-the-conception/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/truth-is-on-the-side-of-the-oppressed-today-it-s-against-the-oppressor/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Poor and afflicted and oppressed people have faces, and we are required to look squarely into them. We can't love what we won't experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/poor-and-afflicted-and-oppressed-people-have-faces-and-we-are/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) > [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) ## More by Thornton Wilder > [“He respected the slight nervous shadow that crossed her face when he came too near her. But there arose out of this denial itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/he-respected-the-slight-nervous-shadow-that-crossed-her-face-when-he/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/when-you-re-safe-at-home-you-wish-you-were-having-an-adventure-when/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Simon Stimson: "...That's what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/simon-stimson-that-s-what-it-was-to-be-alive-to-move-about-in-a-cloud/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Love as education is one of the great powers of the world, but it hangs in a delicate suspension; it achieves its harmony as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/love-as-education-is-one-of-the-great-powers-of-the-world-but-it/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/many-great-writers-have-been-extraordinarily-awkward-in-daily/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [A man looks pretty small at a wedding, George. All those good women standing shoulder to shoulder, making sure that the knot's tied in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/a-man-looks-pretty-small-at-a-wedding-george-all-those-good-women/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-knowledge-that-she-would-never-be-loved-in-return-acted-upon-her/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“But while they continued staring into one another’s face waiting for the miracle of science the pain grew worse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/but-while-they-continued-staring-into-one-another-s-face-waiting-for/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/i-am-convinced-that-except-in-a-few-extraordinary-cases-one-form-or/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/many-who-have-spent-a-lifetime-in-it-can-tell-us-less-of-love-than/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Cesar is not a philosophical man. His life has been one long flight from reflection. At least he is clever enough not to expose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/cesar-is-not-a-philosophical-man-his-life-has-been-one-long-flight/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Every person who has ever lived has lived an unbroken succession of unique occasions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/every-person-who-has-ever-lived-has-lived-an-unbroken-succession-of/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/without-your-wounds-where-would-your-power-be-it-is-your-melancholy/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/ninety-nine-per-cent-of-the-people-in-the-world-are-fools-and-the/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [There's nothing like mixing with woman to bring out all the foolishness in a man of sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/there-s-nothing-like-mixing-with-woman-to-bring-out-all-the/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) [Explore all 232 Thornton Wilder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) ## More Guile quotes > [Life is impermanent and in the face of that impermanence, cavort! Look death in the eye, tell him you’re as cute as a button,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-milford/life-is-impermanent-and-in-the-face-of-that-impermanence-cavort-look/) [Nancy Milford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-milford/) > [Conversation! Supple sentences, with first and second meanings and overtones beyond, outrageous challenges with cleverly planned slip-points, rebuttals of elegant brevity; deceptions and guiles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/conversation-supple-sentences-with-first-and-second-meanings-and/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Babies are endlessly fascinating to look at and I'm obsessed about their complete and utter lack of guile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minnie-driver/babies-are-endlessly-fascinating-to-look-at-and-i-m-obsessed-about/) [Minnie Driver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minnie-driver/) > [To be without guile is to be free of deceit, cunning, hypocrisy, and dishonesty in thought or action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/to-be-without-guile-is-to-be-free-of-deceit-cunning-hypocrisy-and/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [Opportunism is self interest seeking with guile often involving subtle forms of deceit, especially calculated efforts to mislead, distort, disguise, obfuscate, or otherwise confuse.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-e-williamson/opportunism-is-self-interest-seeking-with-guile-often-involving/) [Oliver E. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-e-williamson/) > [ In practice \[monetary management\] is merely a high-sounding euphemism for continuous currency debasement. It consists of constant lying in order to support constant swindling.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/in-practice-monetary-management-is-merely-a-high-sounding-euphemism/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [“She’d say this for him: He had no guile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandhya-menon/she-d-say-this-for-him-he-had-no-guile/) [Sandhya Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandhya-menon/) > [“In Your Early Years people Tell You, Correct You and Forgive You. But when you become an Adult, they Neither Correct you nor Forgive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vineet-raj-kapoor/in-your-early-years-people-tell-you-correct-you-and-forgive-you-but/) [Vineet Raj Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vineet-raj-kapoor/) > [I’m giving you that chance now. (Stryker) It’s too late. Too many centuries have passed. There was a time when I lived only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-m-giving-you-that-chance-now-stryker-it-s-too-late-too-many/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Our duty is to rise in the bright daylight, openly, beating the drums. The cause for which we are ready to give our necks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wladyslaw-stanislaw-reymont/our-duty-is-to-rise-in-the-bright-daylight-openly-beating-the-drums/) [Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wladyslaw-stanislaw-reymont/) > [Women have tongues of craft, and hearts of guile, They will, they will not; fools that on them trust; For in their speech is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torquato-tasso/women-have-tongues-of-craft-and-hearts-of-guile-they-will-they-will/) [Torquato Tasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torquato-tasso/) > [What man so wise, what earthly wit so ware, As to descry the crafty cunning train, By which deceit doth mask in visor fair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/what-man-so-wise-what-earthly-wit-so-ware-as-to-descry-the-crafty/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [But some most worthless persons are in the habit of carrying about the name of Jesus Christ in wicked guile, while yet they practice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-loyola/but-some-most-worthless-persons-are-in-the-habit-of-carrying-about/) [Ignatius of Loyola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-loyola/) > [..we wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes- this debt we pay to human guile; with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laurence-dunbar/we-wear-the-mask-that-grins-and-lies-it-hides-our-cheeks-and-shades/) [Paul Laurence Dunbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laurence-dunbar/) > [The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-generous-abundance-of-her-passion-without-guile-or-trickery-was/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) [Browse all 55 Guile quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guile/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Guile is the shield and spear of the oppressed.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thornton Wilder" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-oppressed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Guile" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-oppressed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/thornton-wilder-1495_guile_guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-opp_823551.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/thornton-wilder-1495_guile_guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-opp_823551.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/thornton-wilder-1495_guile_guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-opp_823551.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Guile is the shield and spear of the oppressed.” — Thornton Wilder", "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": "Thornton Wilder", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Guile is the shield and spear...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-oppressed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/guile-is-the-shield-and-spear-of-the-oppressed/#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 } } ] } ```