Jason Isbell Quotes

Even if I have a good day, I still am aware of other people that are going through really hard, tumultuous things. I don't want to be the person who has a platform and neglects the things I see in my life and experiences.

A lot of the issues today may not affect us personally, but we can't stay in our comfort zone when it comes to protecting our brothers and sisters. We have to get out there and use our voices for them as well.

I think the reason I've been so committed to advocacy is because I see so many people in pain.

I feel that my purpose is to shed light on some of the darker sides of our world, and to lend a hand and a voice to people struggling.

Without an advocate for the poor, without a new state of mind in America, the country lies on the brink of anarchy.

The most important thing my grandfather taught me was that the most noble way to use your skills, intellect and energy is to defend the marginalized against those with the greatest power - and that the resulting animosity from those in power is a badge of honor.

We shall suffer no attachment to literature, no taste for abstract discussion, no love of purely intellectual theories, to seduce us from our devotion to the cause of the oppressed, the down trodden, the insulted and injured masses of our fellow men.

I'm a political poet - let us say a 'human' poet, a poet that's concerned with the plight of people who suffer. If words can be of assistance, then that's what I'm going to use.

Until the world in some way changes, then my responsibility is to share what I know and more importantly to behave like I know about the extraordinary work and effort and blood shed for me to be able to sit here.

We are privileged. There are poor people out there. We must to do something to make them privileged.

As straight Americans we have two choices: we can choose to sit back and enjoy our rights as we have them, or we can realize that it is actually not freedom at all when our friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues do not share these basic rights.

Each one of our ideas should benefit the people with less power than us.

We must stand up and do everything we can for the people who do not have a voice.

Love of country, subordination of personal interests to the common good, concern and care for the helpless and the impoverished - these are among the lost and faded values that we seek to recover and revitalize as we commence our journey towards a better Philippines.

I do feel a responsibility to try and raise awareness and to help tell the stories of those who may not otherwise have a voice.

If you care about other people, you might try to organize to undermine power and authority. That's not going to happen if you care only about yourself.

You can only appreciate freedom when you find yourself in a position to fight for someone else's freedom and not worry about your own.

I don't want to be the only one speaking up for the refugees. I get all these comments from people saying, 'Thanks so much for your courage,' and, 'You're the only one who's spoken out.' But I don't want to be the only one speaking up.

There are people who can look out for other human beings; there are people who can speak up when something is not right and say, 'This is wrong, and something should be done.'

My faith motivates me to really try to work on behalf of and advocate for those who are least able to advocate for themselves.

I've always had a 'stand up for the people' type of personality.

I feel it is my duty to help the migrants, the heartbeats of our country. We have seen migrants walking on the highways with their families and kids. We just can't sit in the AC and tweet and show our concern till we don't go on the roads, till we don't become one of them.

We have that responsibility to look out for those who haven't had the road and the success that we have.

If we don't stand up for others, who will be left to stand up for us?

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.