Holly Near Quotes

I'm more than just a piece in their Games.

A lot of people believe that if everybody just did what they were told - obeyed - everything would be fine. But that's not what life is all about. That's not real. It's never going to happen.

The slaves of socialism are slaves, but they are no one's property and therefore no one's loss.

I don't hold myself dictated to by what everyone is saying, by the tabloids or popular opinion. I don't like bourgeois values. I say you find your own way to live.

It has always seemed to me that those who are without power, who have to create their own in a makeshifit way, know more about life than those who govern.

The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them

Either you think, or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.

I'm not going to be intimidated by people or identity politics. I think that's a dead end.

Oppressed groups are frequently placed in the situation of being listened to only if we frame our ideas in the language that is familiar to and comfortable for a dominant group. This requirement often changes the meaning of our ideas and works to elevate the ideas of dominant groups.

When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.

The kids are not brought up to have minds of their own as individuals.

The idea of victimage is a dreadful thing, a product of a safe middle-class perspective. What people who are not safe develop is a tragic wisdom, a wisdom that embraces contradiction and seeks a sense of balance rather than going to extremes.

Determine to do some thinking for yourself. Don't live entirely upon the thoughts of others. Don't be an automaton.

Students must have initiative; they should not be mere imitators. They must learn to think and act for themselves - and be free.

The individual mirrors in his individuation the preordained social laws of exploitation, however mediated.

Multiculturalism isn't about culture, it's about power.

I developed a resistance to authority. Not to discipline - I learned that. But to authority. I like to think for myself. And I like to cause trouble.

If you're doing something outside of dominant culture, there's not an easy place for you. You will have to do it yourself.

If you don't mind haunting the margins, I think there is more freedom there.

The supreme lesson of any education should be to think for yourself and to be yourself; absent this attainment, education creates dangerous, stupefying conformity.

I have an aversion to being mislabeled. Here's a label I'd accept: I'm an 'individual.' I'm someone who can't follow, and doesn't want to lead.

I've never liked categories; I've never liked boxes; I've always tried to be unconventional as much as I possibly could.

A heretic is a man who sees with his own eyes.

Why do you all push us around?

If what I read doesn't reflect my life - whether I'm gay or Latino or on welfare - doesn't that really mean that my life is not valuable?