Books
The new administrations has been in power for just over a month, and in that time there have been a nearly countless number of nation (and world) wide demonstrations about everything from reproductive rights to #BlackLivesMatter to immigration and so much more. The American people are making it clear how they feel about the president's agenda, and if you're one of the many who have been spending their weekends at rallies across the country, you may want to look to these book quotes for your next protest sign. You may be running out of ways to express your resistance, but writers never will.
As a lifelong bibliophile, I've always looked to books to get me through hard times. Whether it's a long novel to keep me distracted from heartache, an incredible true story that motivates me to keep my own head up, or a simple book quote that inspires me, I know that when the going gets tough, the tough get going to the library. In these trying times, books are some of the best allies a political dissenter can find.
Ready to keep the resistance going? Here are 15 book quotes perfect for your next protest signs. It's going to be a long for years, so get ready to use them all.
1
“Culture does not make people. People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture.”
— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, We Should All Be Feminists
2
“No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.”
— Warsan Shire, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth
3
“I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience.”
— Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
4
“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.”
— John Steinbeck, East of Eden
5
“The darkest secret of this country, I am afraid, is that too many of its citizens imagine that they belong to a much higher civilization somewhere else. That higher civilization doesn’t have to be another country. It can be the past instead—the United States as it was before it was spoiled by immigrants and the enfranchisement of the blacks."
— Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard
6
“I know, up on top you are seeing great sights, but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.”
— Dr. Seuss, Yertle the Turtle and Gertrude McFuzz
7
“I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women
8
“Dear Government... I'm going to have a serious talk with you if I ever find anyone to talk to.”
— Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Played with Fire
9
“People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”
— Alan Moore, V for Vendetta
11
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
— George Orwell, Animal Farm
12
“Resist much, obey little.”
— Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
13
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”
— Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
14
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
15
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
— George Orwell, 1984
