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About this quote

What does it mean?
Clichés simplify life but strip people of identity and become oppressive rules.
In plain terms
Using old phrases can control people and take away who they are.
What can you take from it?
Avoid clichés to preserve individual identity.

Where it applies

  • public discourse
  • media consumption
  • personal reflection

Putting it to work

  • critique standard narratives
  • cultivate original thought
  • resist conformity

Questions to consider

  • How do phrases shape reality?
  • When does convenience become control?

Another view

Some repetition is necessary for communication and social cohesion.

More from Vaclav Havel

  1. Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life.

    Permalink to quote #47
  2. The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning - in other words, of absurdity - the more energetically meaning is sought.

    Permalink to quote #49
  3. Drama assumes an order. If only so that it might have - by disrupting that order - a way of surprising.

    Permalink to quote #46

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