We stole their babes and mothers, chiefs and braves Although we held the whip, you knew we were The real slaves To alchemy, human alchemy.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker admits to taking lives while claiming to be enslaved by human ambition and change.
- In plain terms
- We took people but we were also slaves to our own human drive for change.
- What can you take from it?
- History often shows victors as both oppressors and victims of their own ambitions.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who controls the winners?
- What drives historical change?
Another view
The line 'human alchemy' is abstract and may obscure the meaning without context.
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