Lionel Shriver Quotes

There are times when each of us has to have some gumption to take a stand as to what we wish to preserve or change in order to maintain our self-respect and not be as "a reed shaken with the wind" (Matt. 11:7) . . . . We lose much credibility and strength, and we risk being weighed on an uneven balance, when, Don Quixote-like, we go around "tilting windmills".

I stand up for what I believe. I don't know if it's always paid off for me, because I've been ridiculed and humiliated.

But one of the things I learned is that when you fight for something you believe in and you tell the truth and you do your best, you can always hold your head up high and no one can take that away from you.

I just felt that 'Golden Balls' was the right thing to do. I didn't care if people thought I was a failure.

'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

I know personally that being a conservative minority is a test of character. Identity, after all, is an integral and cherished part of the self.

Most millennials have no problem standing their ground when asked to do something that conflicts with their personal values.

If your values don't alienate anyone, it is just platitude.

Being a Deol for me is to be honest; walking with my head held high and never having to bow in front of injustice.

Nothing is as important as standing up for what you believe in.

I want to be able to look back and say that I stood where I was supposed to stand. I fought where I was supposed to fight, in the ring and out of the ring.

It seems to me that I cannot afford, as a self-respecting individual, to refuse to do a thing merely because it will make me disliked or bring down a storm of criticism on my head.

She who is more ashamed of dishonesty than of poverty will not be easily overcome.

I have found that the greatest help in meeting any problem with decency and self-respect and whatever courage is demanded, is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from.

... I feel certain that his tale is true. Feeling that certainty, I befriend him. As long as that certainty shall last, I will befriend him. And if any consideration could shake me in this resolve, I should be so ashamed of myself for my meanness, that no man's good opinion - no, nor no woman's - so gained, could compensate me for the loss of my own.

I would hope that wherever I was I would be me. I have been influenced by some wonderful people who showed me that there is an integral relationship between faith and life at home. Evil is evil, repression is repression anywhere. And if it is not consistent with what one believes is God's will, then I would hope that one would be able to witness it, and there are wonderful people who do so in very great risks to themselves.

Better that the whole world should turn against you... than you should consent to turn against what is true within you.

From long familiarity, we know what honor is. It is what enables the individual to do right in the face of complacency and cowardice. It is what enables the soldier to die alone, the political prisoner to resist, the singer to sing her song, hardly appreciated, on a side street.

I say that a man must be certain of his morality for the simple reason that he has to suffer for it.

We're at a time now where there's a lot more "I'll do whatever it takes" attitude. I'm not going to say or do what you want me to say or do just because it might help me or be the politically correct thing to do to help my career. And that may have hurt me sometimes. I think about different collaborations that have been brought my way - it might have meant I'd get to be on TV to do certain things, but I've said, "No. It doesn't make sense. I'm not doing it." And other people might jump at the opportunity.

A man must stand up for what he believes in - especially in this culture war between good and evil.

Never, be argued out of your soul, never be argued out of your honor, and never be argued into believing that soul and honor do not run a terrible risk if you limp into life with the load of a debt on your shoulders.

Stands must be taken. If I am to respect myself I have to search myself for what I believe is right and take a stand on what I find. Otherwise, I have not gathered together what I have been given; I have not embraced what I have learned; I lack my own conviction.

Never be afraid of doing the thing you know in your heart is right, even if others don't agree.

I'm vey bad at marshaling arguments. I can't, at a dinner party, explain why I'm a socialist and why others should be socialists as well.