Quotes About Power

Conditioned by the position of oppressing others, any situation other than their former seems to them like oppression. Formerly, they could eat, dress, wear shoes, be educated, travel, and hear Beethoven; while millions did not eat, had no clothes or shoes, neither studied nor traveled, much less listened to Beethoven.

Language is being used to make social inequality invisible.

For the oppressors..to 'be' is to have and to be the class of the "haves".

Although one cannot reduce everything to class, class remains an important factor in our understanding of multiple forms of oppression.

The oppressed want at any cost to resemble the oppressors.

In a situation of manipulation, the Left is almost always tempted by a "quick return to power," forgets the necessity of joining with the oppressed to forge an organization, and strays into an impossible "dialogue" with the dominant elites. It ends by being manipulated by these elites, and not infrequently itself falls into an elitist game, which it calls "realism.

The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors.

Oppression --overwhelming control -- is necrophilic; it is nourished by love of death, not life.

Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence. The means used are not important; to alienate human beings from their own decision-making is to change them into objects.

As the oppressors dehumanize others and violate their rights, they themselves also become dehumanized. As the oppressed, fighting to be human, take away the oppressors' power to dominate and suppress, they restore to the oppressors the humanity they had lost in the exercise of oppression.

Because the oppressor exists within their oppressed comrades, when they attack those comrades they are indirectly attacking the oppressor as well.

Mas, infelizmente, o que se sente, dia a dia [...] é o homem simples esmagado, diminuído e acomodado, convertido em espectador, dirigido pelo poder dos mitos que forças sociais poderosas criam para ele. Mitos que, voltando-se contra ele, o destroem e aniquilam. É o homem tragicamente assustado, temendo a convivência autêntica e até duvidando de sua possibilidade.

Indeed, the interests of the oppressors lie in 'changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which oppresses them'; for the more the oppressed can be led to adapt to that situation, the more easily they can be dominated.

Were it not possible to dialogue with the people before power is taken, because they have no experience with dialogue, neither would it be possible for the people to come to power, for they are equally inexperienced in the use of power.

The restraints imposed by the former oppressed on their oppressors, so that the latter cannot resume their former position, do not constitute oppression . An act is oppressive only when it prevents men from from being more fully human... Behaviour which prevents the restoration of the oppressive regime cannot be compared with the acts by which few men deny the majority their right to be human.

The shadow of their former oppressor is still cast over them.

No que diz respeito às relações autoridade-liberdade, [...], corremos também o risco de, negando à liberdade o direito de afirmar-se, exacerbar a autoridade ou, atrofiando esta, hipertrofiar aquela. Em outras palavras, corremos o risco de cair seduzidos ou pela tirania da liberdade ou pela tirania da autoridade, trabalhando, em qualquer das hipóteses, contra a nossa incipiente democracia.

in order to function, authority must be on the side of freedom, not against it.

Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

The oppressors do not favor promoting the community as a whole, but rather selected leaders.

language is never neutral

The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom.

A nós, gente, só foi dada essa maldita capacidade, transformar amor em nada.

HOW TO GRIND YOUR DEADLIFT Mentally prepare for a steady, relentless effort, as opposed to having a speed mindset. Pre-tense. Pressurize. Squeeze the bar off the floor, don't jerk. "Lift the barbell powerfully-steady, applying a maximal effort along the whole lift." (Smolov) Aim for a constant, low, acceleration towards the lockout. There is more than one way to pull big.