quotations about apathy
Apathy is never positive, and rarely harmless. To be apathetic is to be dispirited, empty of feeling. In its more extreme forms, it is a living death.
DONALD CAPPS
Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues
Large scale apathy is a poison for democracy and leads to a loss of government accountability, so increased voter turn-out is essential. People tend to gain interest as they age, and student apathy is definitely not a new issue. Local elections are a great way to start, because they have local immediate personal impact and are often decided by hundreds instead of hundreds of thousands of votes.
WESTON BELL
"Final day of early voting hits campus community", University of Tennessee Daily Beacon, February 23, 2016
Voter apathy is a problem nationwide. I think people are largely disengaged because they feel like they can't make a difference, and they feel skeptical about politics.
J. J. HOLLIE
interview, "The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce president", Community Impact Newspaper, March 9, 2016
Wherever there is degeneration and apathy, there also is sexual perversion, cold depravity, miscarriage, premature old age, grumbling youth, there is a decline in the arts, indifference to science, and injustice in all its forms.
ANTON CHEKHOV
letter to A.S. Suvorin, Dec. 27, 1889
Apathy is the great requisite for the station; for woe betide the wretch who fancies any modicum of zeal.
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
Homeward Bound; Or, The Chase
What is called "apathy" is, I believe, a feeling of helplessness on the part of the ordinary citizen, a feeling of impotence in the face of enormous power. It's not that people are apathetic; they do care about what is going on, but don't know what to do about it, so they do nothing, and appear to be indifferent.
HOWARD ZINN
Huffington Post, Jan. 28, 2010
In my better moments, I think of apathy as purpose's sleep. In my worse moments, when I'm trying to fix it or get rid of it, I call it feeling lazy, depressed, or useless.
DAWNA MARKOVA
I Will Not Die an Unlived Life
The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON
The Liberator, Jan. 1, 1831
It's a disease. Nobody thinks or feels or cares any more; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable little God damn mediocrity.
RICHARD YATES
Revolutionary Road
In sullen apathy neither true wisdom nor true happiness can be found.
HUME
attributed, Day's Collacon
Mental apathy is stoicism, a calmness of mind incapable of being ruffled by pleasure, pain, or passion.
N. WEBSTER
attributed, Day's Collacon
Apathy is a risk-aversion strategy.
JOOST VAN LOON
Risk and Technological Culture
Presumably, apathy is the greatest danger to truly representative political systems; without the vote, with blind choice, or with one choice, the representative character of democracy is lost.
HERBERT I. LONDON
Social Science Theory: Structure and Application
Beneath our communal apathy is the burbling outrage of students, parents and teachers, all searching for someone to blame. In our frustration we pass responsibility onto one another and are surprised when nothing changes.
BRENDAN FREEMAN
"Franklin County graduation rates are a symptom", Tallahassee Democrat, March 5, 2016
Apathy is the direct opposite of energy; and while it is an all-year-round disease, it is most prevalent in the hot months of July, August and September.
ANONYMOUS
The Magazine of Wall Street, Aug. 21, 1920
Apathy is merely a learned behavior, a habit that can be changed.
SUSANNA BARBEE
"How to motivate apathetic students", Asheville Citizen-Times, February 29, 2016
Apathy -- not hate -- is the opposite of love. It is this apathy that leads first to the death of the psyche, and in its extreme form to the death of the body.
JANE G. GOLDBERG
The Dark Side of Love
Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind.
JAMES BALDWIN
If Beale Street Could Talk
I am not a victim. I am alive, wide awake and free from the numbness of apathy.
ROKELLE LERNER
Daily Affirmations
What about our alleged political apathy? Is that harder to disprove? There is a decent chunk of evidence that suggests young people are generally disinterested in elections. One study found that 24 per cent of young people didn't identify with any particular political party, compared to 7 per cent of older voters. But I don't think research showing young people are disengaged from the formal political process, and feel alienated from political parties, automatically means they don't care about key political issues. Polls regularly show that young people support progressive political change on key issues like marriage equality by a much higher margin than older Australians. The same pattern exists when looking at issues like action on climate change and our treatment of refugees. The biggest political advocacy organisation in the country, GetUp! is full of young, passionate campaigners striving to make a difference. Young people care about issues that affect them, like housing and education, as well as social justice issues that are about making the country a fairer place to live.
OSMAN FARUQI
"Let's stop the Millennial bashing", SBS, March 10, 2016