Quoted in War and Conflict Quotations: A Worldwide Dictionary of Pronouncements from Military Leaders, Politicians, Philosophers, Writers and Others (1997) by Michael C. Thomsett and Jean F. Thomsett
Paraphrased variant: "I doubt if the oppressed ever fight for freedom..."
Context: 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.
“The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.”
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H.L. Mencken 281
American journalist and writer 1880–1956Related quotes
“Nonviolent resistance is not aimed against oppressors, but against oppression.”
1950s, Three Ways of Meeting Oppression (1958)
1950s, Three Ways of Meeting Oppression (1958)
“In argument about moral problems, relativism is the first refuge of the scoundrel.”
"Some More -isms" (p. 32)
Modern Philosophy (1995)
" Taslima Nasrin: A Writer On Trial http://atheistfoundation.org.au/article/taslima-nasrin-a-writer-on-trial/", Interview with Kerry O'Brien on "Lateline", ABC TV (1995).
“My old man claimed that the more complicated the law the more opportunity for scoundrels.”
Source: The Door Into Summer (1957), Chapter 5
Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations (2006)
As quoted in Woody Guthrie: A Life (1981) by Joe Klein, p. 160
Context: Woody is just Woody. Thousands of people do not know he has any other name. He is just a voice and a guitar. He sings the songs of a people and I suspect that he is, in a way, that people. Harsh voiced and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings. But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of the people to endure and fight against oppression. I think we call this the American spirit.