APATHY QUOTES II

quotations about apathy

Apathy quote

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

Tags: death


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

Tags: Anton Chekhov


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

Tags: James Fenimore Cooper, zeal


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

Tags: Howard Zinn


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

Tags: Dawna Markova, purpose


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

Tags: William Lloyd Garrison


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

Tags: mediocrity


In sullen apathy neither true wisdom nor true happiness can be found.

HUME

attributed, Day's Collacon

Tags: wisdom, happiness


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

Tags: democracy, voting


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

Tags: anonymous, summer


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

Tags: Jane G. Goldberg, love


Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind.

JAMES BALDWIN

If Beale Street Could Talk

Tags: James Baldwin


I am not a victim. I am alive, wide awake and free from the numbness of apathy.

ROKELLE LERNER

Daily Affirmations

Tags: Rokelle Lerner


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