Edward Said

"The intellectual is always, or should be, an outsider"

"Orientalism is a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient"

"To be human is to be in a situation of conflict and challenge"

"Secular humanism is not a negation of religion; it is a form of religion"

"There is no such thing as a direct, unmediated access to reality"

"The role of the intellectual is to speak truth to power"

"Culture is a system of meanings by which a society understands itself and its place in the world"

"Freedom is not given; it must be taken"

"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an immediate knowledge of its ugly side"

"Art is something that liberates you from normal perceptions of the world"

"We must think of ourselves as living in a state of siege"

"Historical truth is difficult to determine because of bias and perspective"

"Knowledge is power, but it is also responsibility"

"Literature is a form of intellectual freedom"

"The modern intellectual has been reduced to the level of an entertainer"

"Political economy is the study of how power is distributed"

"To understand a text, you must understand its context"

"The act of interpretation is an act of power"

"Music transcends the boundaries of language and culture"

"The past is never dead; it is not even past"

"Violence is the continuation of politics by other means"

"Human beings are not atoms; they live in communities"

"The purpose of education is to teach people how to think, not what to think"

"Beauty is not objective; it is culturally constructed"

"We are all implicated in the structures of power we critique"

"Patience is not passivity; it is strategic waiting"

"Kindness is the most radical political act"

"Strength comes from understanding your own vulnerability"

"Fear is the foundation of most political systems"

"Money is congealed power"