A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction.
Meaning of the quote
This quote is telling us that if we just react to things instead of taking action, we end up feeling trapped like slaves. Reacting means we don't think for ourselves and don't control our own lives. Instead, we should fight to live a life where we make our own decisions and do what we want, not just respond to what happens to us.
About Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown is an American feminist writer known for her coming-of-age novel, Rubyfruit Jungle. She was active in civil rights campaigns and criticized the marginalization of lesbians within feminist groups. Brown received the Lambda Literary Awards’ Pioneer Award for lifetime achievement in 2015.
More quotes from Rita Mae Brown
You sell a screenplay like you sell a car. If someone drives it off a cliff, that’s it.
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If the world were a logical place, men would ride side-saddle.
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Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself.
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Every action is either strong or weak, and when every action is strong we are successful.
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About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.
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A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction.
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I believe you are your work. Don’t trade the stuff of your life, time, for nothing more than dollars. That’s a rotten bargain.
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Pornography exists for the lonesome, the ugly, the fearful – it’s made for the losers.
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The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself.
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As a woman, I find it very embarrassing to be in a meeting and realize I’m the only one in the room with balls.
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I believe the true function of age is memory. I’m recording as fast as I can.
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Intuition is a suspension of logic due to impatience.
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Divorce is the one human tragedy that reduces everything to cash.
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I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re okay, then it’s you.
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Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Leroy bet me I couldn’t find a pot of gold at the end, and I told him that was a stupid bet because the rainbow was enough.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Education is a wonderful thing. If you couldn’t sign your name you’d have to pay cash.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Writers will happen in the best of families.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Humor comes from self-confidence.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Morals are private. Decency is public.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Recognition of function always precedes recognition of being.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Art is moral passion married to entertainment. Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
The only queer people are those who don’t love anybody.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
You can’t be truly rude until you understand good manners.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
I became a lesbian because of women, because women are beautiful, strong, and compassionate.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
To love without role, without power plays, is revolution.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Women who love women are Lesbians. Men, because they can only think of women in sexual terms, define Lesbian as sex between women.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
I believe in a lively disrespect for most forms of authority.
novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Don’t ask to live in tranquil times. Literature doesn’t grow there.
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I am a comic writer, which means I get to slay the dragons, and shoot the bull.
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One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.
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Virginia Woolf said that writers must be androgynous. I’ll go a step further. You must be bisexual.
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