#powerlessness

Delphine witnessed awful things occurring to other humans. Worse than that, she was powerless to alter their fate. It would be that way all her life--disasters, falling like chairs all around her, falling so close they disarranged her hair, but not touching her. ↗

— Louise Erdrich

#powerlessness #witnessing #life

Power is fortified not just by what it destroys, but also by what it creates. Not just by what it takes, but also by what it gives. And powerlessness reaffirmed not just by the helplessness of those who have lost, but also by the gratitude of those who have (or THINK they have) gained. ↗

— Arundhati Roy

#helplessness #human-nature #humility #power #powerlessness

The almost insoluble task is to let neither the power of others, nor our own powerlessness, stupefy us. ↗

— Theodor Adorno

#insoluble #neither #nor #others #our

A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together. ↗

— Margaret Atwood

#fully #gift #go #human #possible

In his state of complete powerlessness the individual perceives the time he has left to live as a brief reprieve. ↗

— Theodor Adorno

#complete #his #individual #left #live

I think in the case of horror, it's a chance to confront a lot of your worse fears and those fears usually have to do, ironically, with powerlessness and isolation. ↗

— Adam Arkin

#chance #confront #fears #horror #i

Power should not be concentrated in the hands of so few, and powerlessness in the hands of so many. ↗

— Maggie Kuhn

#few #hands #many #power #powerlessness

Collectively, we must do more than simply watch, with resignation and a feeling of powerlessness, reports on the evening news about the latest terrorist atrocity. ↗

— Michael Jeffery

#atrocity #collectively #evening #evening news #feeling

We may overcompensate for our feelings of powerlessness by attempting to control and manipulate other people and our environment. Or we may eventually burst forth with uncontrolled rage that is highly exaggerated and distorted by its long suppression. ↗

— Shakti Gawain

#burst #control #distorted #environment #eventually

If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute powerlessness make you pure? ↗

— Harry Shearer

#absolute power #absolute power corrupts #absolutely #corrupts #does