Live not by lies.
A huge number of people are either forced to act like cowards or act like cowards without being forced or even asked to. They just look the other way and try to ignore what is happening…For all of us, the moment will come when we will realize that none of the things we achieved by looking the other way and keeping quiet mattered. The only moments that matter in life are the moments when we’re doing the right thing. When we don’t have to look the other way, when we can raise our eyes from the floor and look each other in the eye. Nothing else matters…I call on everyone to live not by lies. I know that it sounds naive, and there is a certain pleasure in laughing and grinning sarcastically as I say it. But there is no other way. There is no other solution for our country right now…I know for a fact that when they isolate and imprison me, another will take my place. Nothing I did was unique or special. Anyone can do what I did. Live not by lies.
Reminds me of Abraham Joshua Heschel's phrase, "The prophet is a person, not a microphone." And Daniel Berrigan's plea that God send us "mystics with hands."
He was a wonderful man. I often wonder what the world would be like if he were at Russia’s helm instead of the other guy.