Free speech Quote by Tom Stoppard
““HENRY: Leave me out of it. They don’t count. Maybe Brodie got a raw deal, maybe he didn’t. I don’t know. It doesn’t count. He’s a lout with language. I can’t help somebody who thinks, or thinks he thinks, that editing a newspaper is censorship, or that throwing bricks is a demonstration while building tower blocks is social violence, or that unpalatable statement is provocation while disrupting the speaker is the exercise of free speech…Words don’t deserve that kind of malarkey. They’re innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they’re no good any more, and Brodie knocks their corners off. I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little or make a poem which children will speak for you when you’re dead. Act II, Scene 5, HENRY and ANNIE””
About This Quote
Source Play: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Act II Scene 5, 1966
Words are neutral tools that, when used carefully, can bridge understanding, but when distorted they lose power.
In simple terms: Words are neutral but can be misused.
Choose words wisely to build bridges.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- writing
- political discourse
- education
- media criticism
- conflict resolution
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you ensure words remain neutral?
- When can words become harmful?
The view may underestimate the inherent biases and power dynamics embedded in language.