Looking for inspirational quotes about the opressed? We have rounded up the best collection of standing up to oppression quotes, sayings, captions, (with images and pictures) to motivate you to take a stand and speak against injustice.
Oppression is defined as a prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority. Oppression can happen at all levels and ages. When the power is abused then exercise of authority is done in a burdensome, or unjust manner on others.
Being oppressed for a long time can have very adverse mental health affects leading to anxiety, stress, depression, sadness, and more.
Most oppressed people choose to remain silent due to fear of backlash and the brutal reaction of the oppressor. This makes the oppresor more powerful. Being intimidated by people is one reason because of which some men and women choose to speak less or be silent. But with courage and a fearless attitude always chose to stand for the right, for justice and for freedom.
This great list of inspirational quotes will bring out your voice every day and encourage you to stand up for yourself. You need to have the confidence and believe in yourself while speaking and the rest will follow.
Oppression Quotes
Being Oppressed Quotes
Standing Up To Oppression Quotes
Quotes About Women’s Oppression
Check out these inspirational intimidating quotes and quotes about bullying quotes that will encourage you to be confident and overcome intimidation with your fearless attitude.
Oppression Quotes
“Oppression causeth rebellion.” – Terence
“Speak up. Believe in yourself. Take risks.”
“Oppression makes a poor country.” – William Penn
“All I can do is fight for truth and justice.” – Muhammad Ali
“All oppression creates a state of war.” – Simone de Beauvoir
“Oppression worketh out its own destruction.” – James Linen
“He who allows oppression shares the crime.” – Desiderius Erasmus oppression quotes
“Oppression tries to defend itself by its utility.” – Simone De Beauvoir
“Each time a women stands up for herself she stands up for all women.”
“A desire to resist oppression is implanted in the nature of man.” – Tacitus
“When fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.” – H. L. Mencken
“Those who are silent when others are oppressed are guilty of oppression themselves” ― Imam Hussein Ibn Ali
“You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.” – Booker T. Washington
“The most odious of all oppressions are those which mask as justice.” – Robert H. Jackson
“Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.” – Napoleon Bonaparte standing up to oppression quotes
“Oppression cannot prosper where none will submit to be enslaved.” – Charles Caleb Colton
“I will be on the side of the oppressed, of those that are trying to be accepted in this society.”
“When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand.” – Jimmy Carter
“The oppression of women is the single most corrosive and urgent problem of our time.” – Brandi Carlile Quotes About Oppression
“There is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression.” – John Locke
“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” – Malcolm X
“Ignorance will fall down and worship idols, and bend the neck to receive the yoke of oppression.” – James Linen
“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” – James Madison
“If you don’t stand up for other’s when their rights are being trampled, who will stand up for you when it’s your rights they trampled?”
“We must not enable anyone to impose his personal view regarding religion on others by force, oppression, or pressure.” – Shirin Ebadi
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” ― Albert Einstein quotes about oppressors
“Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.” – Nelson Mandela
“It was a time of oppression and you spoke up — and we won. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing up here either.” – Terrence McNally
“No oppression is so heavy or lasting as that which is inflicted by the perversion and exorbitance of legal authority.” – Joseph Addison
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take… The line between reason and madness grows thinner.” – Rosa Parks
“Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.” – Norman Vincent Peale
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” – John F. Kennedy
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” – Malcolm X
“The task of resisting our own oppression does not relieve us of the responsibility of acknowledging our complicity in the oppression of others.” – Beverly Daniel Tatum
“We have a right, also, in various ways, to act upon our unfavorable opinion of anyone, not to the oppression of his individuality, but in the exercise of ours.” – John Stuart Mill
“If you want to make a difference, the next time you see someone being cruel to another human being, take it personally. Take it personally because it is personal!” – Brene Brown
“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” – Thomas Paine
“Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people–they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress.” – Paulo Freire
“Many bullies are also cowards: When their victims begin to show backbone and stand up for their rights, a bully will often back down. This is true in schoolyards, as well as in domestic and office environments.” – Preston Ni
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass
“It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” – Robert Kennedy
Being Oppressed Quotes
Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment or exercise of power, often under the guise of governmental authority or cultural opprobrium.
A few examples of social oppression include racism (treating people different based on their skin color or ethnicity), secism (treating people different based on their gender), religious persecution (treating people different because of their religion.)
Exploiting people and taking undue advantage of their position causes resentment and dissapointment amongst people. Be it opression in a country, family, relationship, or at workplace.
“Truth is on the side of the oppressed.” – Malcolm X
“The old silence had broken and left us with the sharp pieces.”
“The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves.”
“We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression.” – Confucius quotes about oppression
“It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.” – Emily Dickinson
“Strong people stand up for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others.”- Suzy Kassem quotes on oppression
“As there is oppression of the majority such oppression will be fought with increasing hatred.” – Bram Fischer
“Oppression that is clearly inexorable and invincible does not give rise to revolt but to submission.” – Simone Weil
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“To hold a people in oppression you have to convince them first that they are supposed to be oppressed.” – John Henrik Clarke
“There’s still a really divisive residue in our nation that’s called racism and prejudice and oppression and sexism.” – Jurnee Smollett
“I believe in human rights for everyone, and none of us is qualified to judge each other and that none of us should therefore have that authority.” – Malcolm X
“The worst government is often the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.” – H. L. Mencken
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” – Anonymous
“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.” – William Faulkner
“It is doubtful if the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power — power to oppress others. The oppressed want above all to imitate their oppressors; they want to retaliate.” – Eric Hoffer
“When confronting bullies, be sure to place yourself in a position where you can safely protect yourself, whether it’s standing tall on your own, having other people present as witness and support, or keeping a paper trail of the bully’s inappropriate behavior.” – Preston Ni
“For a girl, appearance can be a powerful form of oppression. No matter how intelligent a girl may be, no matter her many talents, these attributes are not easily discerned. Brains and talent will never stand up against a girl who is clearly physically attractive.” – Natsuo Kirino
“Anyone who thinks they stand apart from society and defies all which govern its existence has less in common with the lone wolf patriot standing up to dystopic forces of oppression – a myth – and more in common with the disease known as cancer – a harsh reality.” – Steven Weber
Standing Up To Oppression Quotes
These motivational standing up to oppression quotes are by famous leaders, policians, authors, celebrities like Malcom X, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and more who have fought for equality and justice against oppression and discrimination on basis of race, caste, freedom, abuse, and more.
“Standing in line is a form of oppression.” – John Green
“If I sit silently, I have sinned.” – Mohammad Mossadegh
“There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu stop oppression quotes
“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” – Thurgood Marshall
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“What is the source of our first suffering? It lies in the fact that we hesitated to speak. It was born in the moment when we accumulated silent things within us.” – Gaton Bachelard
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” – Elie Wiesel
“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.” – Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But … the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” – Haile Selassie
Quotes About Women’s Oppression
Women are still being abused physically and mentally, objectified, oppressed and discriminated against at home, workplace, and schools. Fighting for equal rights, priviledges and justice is a battle been fought for centuries.
These powerful quotes about standing up against women’s oppression will give you the courage to not tolerate any injustice and discrimination. These quotes and sayings are by famous female leaders, writers, authors, celebrities who stand for women empowerment.
“Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.” – Marilyn Monroe
“To those accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” – Anonymous
“Man’s love is of man’s life a thing apart, tis woman’s whole existence.” – Lord Byron
“Obviously the most oppressed of any oppressed group will be its women.” – Lorraine Hansberry
“I demanded more rights for women because I know what women had to put up with.” – Evita Peron
“I am fighting a fight against oppression where the poor and women are being violated.” – Mukhtar Ma’i
“When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed, it’s tradition.” – Letty Cottin Pogrebin
“Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” – Margaret Atwood
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” – Charlotte Bronte
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” – Audre Lorde
“Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression.” – Nelson Mandela
“We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.” – Beyonce
“Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their opressors.” – Evelyn Cunningham
“Any society that fails to harness the energy and creativity of its women is at a huge disadvantage in the modern world.” – Tian Wei
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” – Maya Angelou
“Religion is against women’s rights and women’s freedom. In all societies women are oppressed by all religions.” – Taslima Nasrin
“The oppression of women knows no ethnic nor racial boundaries, true, but that does not mean it is identical within those boundaries. ” – Audre Lorde
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman… If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“The subtlest and most vicious aspect of women’s oppression is that we have been conditioned to believe we are not oppressed, blinded so as not to see our own condition.” – Robin Morgan
“Here the oppression of women is very subtle.” – Nawal El Saadawi
Social oppression is when a single group in society unjustly takes advantage of, and exercises power over, another group using dominance and subordination.
Economic oppression may take several forms, including, but not limited to: serfdom, forced labour, low wages, denial of equal opportunity, practicing employment discrimination, and economic discrimination based on sec, nationality, race, and religion.
Bullying or harassment in any form is a very negative trait and you should always stand tall against it. Learn how to deal with intimidating people and tackle them head-on.
I hope these inspiring being opressed quotations and stand against oppression quotes gave you the courage to stand against people who exploit you. Do let us know which one was your favorite in the comments section below.
Feel free to share with friends and family on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Twitter, and more to raise more awareness.
