Oppressor Quotes

Every revolutionary ends up either by becoming an oppressor or a heretic. (Albert Camus)
The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. View quote
Steve Biko
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. View quote
Desmond Tutu
Who Rebels? Who rises in arms? Rarely the slave, but almost always the oppressor turned slave. View quote
Emil Cioran
The genius of any slave system is found in the dynamics which isolate slaves from each other, obscure the reality of a common condition, and make united rebellion against the oppressor inconceivable. View quote
Andrea Dworkin
Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor. View quote
James Russell Lowell
Two children of same cruel parent look at one another and see in each other the image of the cruel parent or the image of their past oppressor. This is very much the case between Jew and Arab: It's a conflict between two victims. View quote
Amos Oz
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. View quote
Elie Wiesel
You know, it's not the world that was my oppressor, because what the world does to you, if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do to yourself. View quote
James Baldwin
The establishment of Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world. View quote
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else. (Malcolm X)
The behavior of the oppressed is a prescribed behavior, following as it does the guidelines of the oppressor. View quote
Paulo Freire
The behavior and reactions of the oppressed, which lead the oppressor to practice cultural invasion, should evoke from the revolutionary a different theory of action. What distinguishes revolutionary leaders from the dominant elite is not only their objectives, but their procedures. View quote
Paulo Freire
Certain members of the oppressor class join the oppressed in their struggle for liberation. View quote
Paulo Freire
What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander. View quote
Elie Wiesel
The Church in the colonies is the white people's Church, the foreigner's Church. She does not call the native to God's ways but to the ways of the white man, of the master, of the oppressor. View quote
Frantz Fanon
Maine should be pleased that its animal is not a waverer, and rather than fight, lets the primed quill fall. Shallow oppressor, intruder, insister, you have found a resister. View quote
Marianne Moore
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor. View quote
Anne Lamott
Justice remains the tool of a few powerful interests; legal interpretations will continue to be made to suit the convenience of the oppressor powers. View quote
Che Guevara
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. View quote
Martin Luther King Jr.
It's our own small voice within that is our oppressor; it says we are not worthy and not powerful enough. Our limited beliefs are the real foes we need to fight and conquer. (Yehuda Berg)
Like an explorer returned from a distant planet or another dimension, Suki Kim has many extraordinary tales to tell, among them how different--and how awful--life is for those who live in North Korea. The devil is in the details here, for her gritty narrative focuses on everyday events to reveal how repression shapes daily life, even for the most privileged. Yet Kim also bears witness to that part of the human soul that no oppressor can ever claim. View quote
Carlos Eire
Feminism, unlike almost every other social movement, is not a struggle against a distinct oppressor - it's not the ruling class or the occupiers or the colonizers - it's against a deeply held set of beliefs and assumptions that we women, far too often, hold ourselves. View quote
Kavita Ramdas
But the questioning for me started in the spring of 1970 after an unauthorized demonstration in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to "free the political prisoners." Why was I doing this rather than using my intellect? Perhaps I was empowered by the anger and relieved that I could now strike back at the faceless oppressor. But why was I conceding my intellect and rather fighting much like a brute? This I could not answer, except to say that I was tired of being restrained. View quote
Clarence Thomas
In the long run, the oppressor is also a victim. In the short run (and so far, human history has consisted only of short runs), the victims, themselves desperate and tainted with the culture that oppresses them, turn on other victims. View quote
Howard Zinn