Quote by E. M. Forster

We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.

We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely t

Summary

This quote highlights the paradoxical nature of our attitude towards freedom. We are quick to celebrate and praise the concept of freedom, but only when it pertains to historical events or moments that are not currently threatening or inconvenient. However, when faced with uncertain and potentially dangerous circumstances in the present, we become anxious and are inclined to accept censorship as a means of preserving security and stability. It sheds light on how our perception of freedom often changes based on our immediate context and the level of perceived risk involved.

Topics

Freedom

By E. M. Forster

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperat

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate towards some goal which they come to find desirable and which motivates them over the long haul.

Leadership

The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was abl

The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime.

Experience

A widow's refusal of a lover is seldom so explicit as to exc

A widow's refusal of a lover is seldom so explicit as to exclude hope.

Samuel Richardson

Hope

The common idea that success spoils people by making them va

The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind.

W. Somerset Maugham

Success

It is worth while too to warn the teacher that undue severit

It is worth while too to warn the teacher that undue severity in correcting faults is liable at times to discourage a boy's mind from effort.

Teacher

Scientists have discovered that the small brave act of coope

Scientists have discovered that the small brave act of cooperating with another person, of choosing trust over cynicism, generosity over selfishness, makes the brain light up with quiet joy.

Inspirational

The rise of childhood obesity has placed the health of an en

The rise of childhood obesity has placed the health of an entire generation at risk.

Health

The disruptive powers of excessive national fecundity may ha

The disruptive powers of excessive national fecundity may have played a greater part in bursting the bonds of convention than either the power of ideas or the errors of autocracy.

John Maynard Keynes

Power

Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medi

Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has to walk alone; it has to be itself.

Berenice Abbott

Photography

Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive pu

Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A 'you can do it' when things are tough.

Richard M. DeVos

Hope

I once went to one of those parties where everyone throws th

I once went to one of those parties where everyone throws their car keys into the middle of the room. I don't know who got my moped, but I drove that Peugeot for years.

Car

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you inde

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.