"I think that we live in a very timid age, and part of our timidity arises from our unwillingness to offend people. And as a result there are whole tribes of people now who define themselves by their offendedness. Who are you if you are not offended by anything? You're nobody, you know? Or even worse, you're a liberal. I just think that whole business of defining yourself by anger is very problematic, and then the fact that we all bend over backwards not to induce that anger becomes very often also a problem, and a kind of cowardice if you like. I think we just need to live in a more robust society in which people say things that other people don't like. And the answer to that is not to throw a bomb at them, but to say 'I don't like that much' and get on with the next business."
Salman Rushdie, Open Book.
I should make it clear that I find a lot of things Salman Rushdie has said offensive, but I like this quote very much.
Posts
so true.
ReplyDelete