I am not a giant physically; I shrink from pain and filth and vermin and foul air, like any other man of refinement; also, I freely admit, when I see a line of a hundred policeman with drawn revolvers flung across a street to keep anyone from coming on to private property to hear my feeble voice. But I have a conscience and a religious faith, and I know that our liberties were not won without suffering, and may be lost again through our cowardice.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Sinclair admits fear of physical pain and oppression but emphasizes conscience and faith as reasons to stand for liberty despite risks.
- In plain terms
- He admits he fears pain and police but believes conscience and past sacrifices demand he keep speaking out.
- What can you take from it?
- Courage comes from conviction even when fear is present.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What drives you to act when afraid?
- How do you weigh safety against principles?
Another view
Religious faith is cited as a universal motivator which may not apply to all activists.
More from Upton Sinclair
All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.
Permalink to quote #7 I wrote with tears and anguish, pouring into the pages all that pain which life had meant to me. Externally the story had to do with a family of stockyard work…
Permalink to quote #9 I am a person who has never used violence himself. My present opinion is that people who have obtained the ballot should use it and solve their problems in tha…
Permalink to quote #6
Related quotes
Le silence est la plus grande persecution; jamais les saints ne se sont tus. (919)
Blaise PascalBlaise Pascal quote #45 A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the State with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for …
Henry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau quote #66 Do not resist the evil-doer and take no part in doing so, either in the violent deeds of the administration, in the law courts, the collection of taxes, or abo…
Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy quote #94