Stephen Fry Quotes

When things happen socially in our community, as artists, we've got the right to exercise our voices if we choose to, use our powers for good.

I became active in politics because I saw the possibility, if we all sat back and did nothing, of a world in which there would no longer be any stages for actors to act on.

A lot of my work concerns a crisis of agency - what can we do?

'Unlikely Brothers' talks about the importance of citizen action and shows why and how we can make a difference.

People are even more wary of politicians and they are realizing that democracy isn't just about putting a cross on a ballot every four years, it's about deciding what you want and fighting for it.

I believe that the power of literature is stronger than the power of tyranny.

I personally think artists should criticize the government as much as possible since, unlike politicians, they do not have to obtain votes.

It’s only at certain points in history that people realize just how much power that they have.

Everybody is looking for an election where they can do something and participate.

Poetry can't give us the laws and institutions and representatives, the antidotes we need: only public activism by massive numbers of citizens can do that.

We can't sit around waiting for big government, big business, big religion etc. to save us. We need to get informed and take inspired action.

It is open for anyone to have freedom of speech, and I guess we can all play a role in trying to make a difference in the world. Particularly if your leader is not helping in that area.

No matter what political cause compels us, we should always feel as though it's being threatened. We should use these causes, whatever they are, to bring people together and get each other excited about our role, so we feel like we can't stop and won't stop.

People are really looking for greater sense of control of what happens in their lives, about the issues they really care about, and they feel that the political system doesn't necessarily deliver.

Too often, we rely on other people - whether it be politicians or institutions - to effect change.

Every person has the ability to influence change. I am grateful that my voice counts, and I am able to influence change. But more than that, there is a certain amount of activism that is engrained in me.

Many people have placed great hopes in our movement.

Any collective action is made up of individuals who one day decided not to sit and watch anymore.

We've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing and start praying. The strength we need will not come from the White House, but from every house in America.

Every American at some point has got to make the connection between their own hopes and dreams and who is elected to office. It's essential. It's very easy to pull the covers up over your head and say, "I can't handle it. Too much." But we just have to handle it and we have to accept that it's our job. Each of us. Nobody is going to take care of it.

If you come across an American artist right now who has no political opinions or is afraid of talking politics, be very concerned.

I'd like to transform the system in very fundamental ways, but you've got to do that in every way that you can. You can't wait for some magic bullet or some magic politician or some magic anything to have that happen. You got to get out there and use your vote.

But once a culture develops sufficiently to become skeptical, the idea of censorship becomes less attractive. To suppress a book or a picture or a sculpture or a play or a film is a terrible act of aggression against the artist who created it. This is a miming of capital punishment; it destroys the life that has been emanated by a life.

I think it would be very good if writers and artists take a stand in electoral politics. They've got the ability to put words together that might reach the ears of the people of the city who vote.

When people get this consciousness of the way things are supposed to be in America - that the locus of agency is in them, that they are supposed to be the ones setting the agenda - if people believe this, they get very energized. Yeah, it's annoying to have this extra burden of saving the country.