It is not a national question concerning India any longer; it is purely international.
AGNES SMEDLEYBut I see no reason why a woman should not grow and develop in all those outlets which are suited to her nature, it matters not at all what they may be.
More Agnes Smedley Quotes
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To die would have been beautiful. But I belong to those who do not die for the sake of beauty.
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My mother listened to all the news from the camp during the strike.
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It was a technical Marxist subject and I did not understand it nor did I know what questions to ask.
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But here in New York I was ignorant, insignificant, unimportant–one in millions whose destiny concerned no one. New York did not even know of my existence. Nor did it care.
AGNES SMEDLEY -
Much that we read of Russia is imagination and desire only.
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Now, being a girl, I was ashamed of my body and my lack of strength. So I tried to be a man.
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But there were years when, in search of what I thought was better, nobler things I denied these, my people, and my family.
AGNES SMEDLEY -
I joined another circle and the leader gave us a little leaflet in very small print, asking us to read it carefully and then come prepared to ask questions.
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No one yet knows what a man’s province is, and how far that province, as conceived of today, is artificial.
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More and more do I see that only a successful revolution in India can break England’s back forever and free Europe itself.
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But settled things were enemies to me and soon lost their newness and color. The unknown called.
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Professors could silence me then; they had figures, diagrams, maps, books.
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I feel like a person living on the brink of a volcano crater.
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Friendship is far more human.
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I forgot the songs they sung – and most of those songs are now dead; I erased their dialect from my tongue.
AGNES SMEDLEY