AES135 The Fire Within

The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive’.

The honest men who just want to be left in peace.

Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves.

Those with no sides and no causes.

Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness.

Those who don’t like to make waves, or enemies.

Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature.

Those who live small, mate small, die small.

It’s the reductionist approach to life.

If you keep it small, you keep it under control.

If you don’t make any noise, the boogeyman won’t find you.

Because it’s all an illusion, because they die too. 

Those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe.

Safe? From what?

Life is always on the edge of death.

Narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues,

And a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does.

I choose my own way to burn.

-Sophie Scholl-

One of my favorite quotes of all time, from an amazingly brave and yet not very well known person. Sophie Scholl was a German activist who fought against the Nazis, she and some friends from university formed an activist group to resist the inhuman Nazi regime. They tried to oppose the Nazis with non-violent resistance, spreading leaflets around to their fellow Germans, raising awareness on how truly horrible the regime is. But sadly after only a short while, Sophie and several other students were arrested by the Gestapo and charged with treason. That very same day, Sophie and her friends were executed. She was only 21 years old at the time. 

They knew that fighting back against the Nazi Ideology would be highly dangerous, but they did it anyway because it was the right thing to do. There are still countless injustices in the world we live in, and each one burns a fire in my heart. Never let that fire go out. Let’s use the time we have on this Earth, to make sure that we make a difference, to help others, and to promise to never let our lives be wasted.