Olga Tokarczuk Quotes

Our leaders must hold themselves to a higher standard and ensure their words and actions do not promote hate or hurtful anti-Semitic stereotypes.

If we stand idly by while states legalize bigotry, we are responsible for allowing it to happen.

Teaching prejudice to a child is itself a form of bullying. You've got to be taught to hate.

I have never been on the receiving end of a hate crime, or even a disparaging remark to my face.

Bite us once, shame on the dog; bite us repeatedly, shame on us for allowing it.

Naturally, it is a terrible, despicable crime when, as in Munich, people are taken hostage, people are killed. But probing the motives of those responsible and showing that they are also individuals with families and have their own story does not excuse what they did.

The worst effect of student violence has been to excite liberals who assume that behind every act of violence there is a condition of injustice, and who take it as their guilty responsibility to eradicate the cause.

This country, our tradition, permits you to be a bigot, but it also requires you to take responsibility for your bigotry. The fact that you could hide behind a mask allows you to be a bigot without being responsible.

The responsibility for all these acts falls first of all on the deported people.

Both casual, unthinking discrimination and deliberate, malicious homophobia erode self-confidence and undermine mental health. Both are far too common, not just in our schoolyards or online but in sporting clubs, in the outer and even in our national parliament.

When someone makes a racist remark, that doesn't make him a racist, but you have to say, 'This the line. You've crossed it, and you have to apologize' - not only to the person who has been hurt but also the people who live with that racial abuse almost all their lives. I think that's unacceptable if you don't.

Hate crime and hate speech must not be tolerated. Our policy and lawmakers and those who uphold the law must protect the most vulnerable in our society.

I know some people would be like, 'Why are you responding to these racists on Twitter?' Sometimes it's for the purpose of letting them know they're being watched and that they're going to have to answer for their words.

Anyone who feels that homosexuality is not only a sin but also a disease or a mental issue should take a look in the mirror and realize who the real crazy person is.

I was raised with this idea that we're supposed to be tolerant of other people's opinions, but then what happens if other people's opinions are racist and hateful and wrong?

When something horrible happens, it's human nature to want to blame it on someone. We want someone to be held accountable, even though sometimes things just happen.

You're punishing him over and over for things that are out of his control.

Faced with intolerance and hatred, no debate is possible.

If the victims are my problem, the killers are yours.

The West has institutions that can punish the misconduct of individuals. What drove Rwanda and Africa into decline was the fact that certain people weren't held accountable. When we move to make corrupt mayors or officers answer to the courts, people always immediately say that we are repressive. But should we allow these people to continue to get away with it?

If we don't prosecute war criminals, what's the next horrible thing they can do? As anyone knows, if you're not held accountable, you think you can get away with it, and it becomes OK.

The world hates a Jew who hits back. The world loves us only when we are to be pitied.

We cannot change what happened anymore. The only thing we can do is to learn from the past and to realize what discrimination and persecution of innocent people means. I believe that it's everyone's responsibility to fight prejudice.

We should hold abusers — and no one else — responsible for the damage they inflict.

If it's racist, it's racist. If it's anti-Semitic, it's anti-Semitic. If it's anti-women, it's anti-women. If it's anti-immigrant, it's anti-immigrant, and we need to really strengthen our language, so that it is clear and not mushy.