Complicity Quotes

“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“The point is, there is no feasible excuse for what are, for what we have made of ourselves. We have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality, dividends before decency, fanaticism before fairness, and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others”
― Iain M. Banks, Complicity

“A thousand times, people may have touched each other, but never ever sensed a single vein of oneness or complicity in the wilderness of their inner world, since obdurate mental impediments have been barricading the road to understanding and propinquity. (“A thousand times”)”
― Erik Pevernagie

“A dog can be a ‘significant other’ as it infuses a magic fluid stream of oxytocin, trust, ease, and patience; and transforms a man’s life into a paradise of complicity and mutual sympathy, arousing at the same time an instinct of playfulness that many people have lost since their young age and that puts things in new perspectives.( "I am young and have no dog")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“It is complicated,’ they say. I am so sick of this response. Many people use it repeatedly to escape depth and confronting reality. They use it to take solace in the fact that they don’t know (or don’t wish to know) the ugly truth of what is happening right in front of their eyes. They reduce crimes, injustice, war, pain, hunger, rape, and everything that must be unpacked, dissected, and confronted to this: ‘It is complicated.’ They say this about COVID-19, too. Oh, how I have grown to hate this response. Every time I hear this statement from someone, it sounds like ‘I am a loser’ to my ears. ‘It is complicated’ is the favorite response of lazy brains that refuse to think and do. Oh, my friends, I insist it is not complicated. If you really want to know, it is not so complicated. However, if you are really looking for reasons and excuses to justify your silence, complicity, and to protect your self-interest, then you are absolutely right – it is complicated!”
― Louis Yako

“Elwood said, "It's against the law." State law, but also Elwood's. If everyone looked the other way, then everybody was in on it. If he looked the other way, he was as implicated as the rest. That's how he saw it, how he'd always seen things.”
― Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys

“В Германии практически каждый знал о Холокосте — ведь он начался с массовых убийств в Восточной Европе, в которых приняли непосредственное участие десятки тысяч немцев. Сотни тысяч, если не миллионы, знали об этом; вероятно, чуть ли не каждый немецкий солдат на Восточном фронте. И мы знаем, что они писали об этом домой. Я полагаю, что Холокост как факт был широко известен задолго до того, как был устроен Освенцим. А после войны пришли американцы и британцы и обнаружили лагеря смерти. И они спросили у немцев: "Вы знали об этом?" И получили вполне правдивый ответ: "Нет, мы не знали точно, что там происходило". Так лагеря заслонили собой Холокост. И по сегодняшний день Холокост у немцев ассоциируется прежде всего с лагерями смерти, хотя на самом деле он был сравнительно мало связан с ними [161].”
― Timothy Snyder, Украинская история, российская политика, европейское будущее

“The Gallos had always kept a frugal household, and it hadn’t been until Tony went abroad that he realised that what he had always taken to be middle class was really, by any global standard, rich. The revelation had produced in him not relief or gratitude, but a new and deeply unpleasant sense of his own complicity, for Grandpa Gallo's legacy--a fortune he had never known existed, let alone expected to receive--had left him suddenly much wealthier than any of his friends. He had never mentioned the bequest to anyone; instead, he practised inconspicuous consumption, and began to cultivate a shabby hand-me-down appearance as a way of implying to everyone around him that, like them, he was only barely scraping by. It was partly to atone for this deception, and partly in continuation of it, that he had turned to journalism; having pretended for so long that the asceticism of his lifestyle was a sacrifice he had no other option but to make, he now felt an almost desperate desire to earn an income from his writing, and thereby prove in concrete terms that his life’s project, the expansion of his mind, was more than what he feared it might be--merely a form of inauthentic tourism financed, hypocritically, by those very social and economic structures that he claimed so energetically to oppose.”
― Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood

“I thought about my complicity
all the time or not at all. My role in America’s joyless abundance.”
― H.R. Webster

“Wardenclyffe Human (Sonnet)

Give the monkeys cinema and sports,
they'll sleep through armageddon;
cinema is a great propaganda device,
sports are an opiate of distraction.

Good filmmaking elevates the mind,
but fanatic fans only carry manure;
playing sports elevates the body,
but backseat players are raving boar.

The average monkey may not know,
that the earth spins around the sun,
but ask about their favorite celebrity,
and they become wikipedia in person.

Vegetable, you are not, so don't go soggy;
nothing more sad than brain becoming bacon!
You are Wardenclyffe, you are Nalanda,
you're the source and sink of civilization.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Sonnets From The Mountaintop

“Silence can be sacred, or complicit. The difference is what you do when you finally speak.”
― Lawrence Nault

“Every chain wrapped around a neck begins at the wrist of its maker.”
― PIERRE LAGRENAT

“When we choose indifference, we consent to someone else’s cruelty.”
― Lawrence Nault

“Silence can be complicity, or it can be the soil where action grows.”
― Lawrence Nault

“I'm the person who signs so everyone else can pretend no one chose. I'm tired of pretending.”
― Taimour AlNeimat, The Day Satoshi Returned: A Novel

“The Rights and Rungs of Esteem
by Stewart Stafford

Shall I tell you of a man I once called friend?
In retrospect, it amazes me that I did,
He was uniquely his own flawed self,
To my perplexity, I sometimes miss him.

His reflection always gave him pause,
Incessantly fanning the flames of flattery.
His plotting would run Machiavelli ragged,
Yet always served those he answered to.

I once saw him trip a commoner beneath
a passing horse without breaking stride.
He recalled it fondly in jest with a toast—
Dubbing it his “charity to a gaping ape.”

Scandalous, vandalous, vainglorious —
Preening astride his high steed,
Prison saw him pantomime humility;
He emerged, resumed, then expired.

© 2026 Stewart Stafford, All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“I feel myself sharpening beneath her scrutiny. ‘I did what I had to.’
‘No, Medea. You did what Jason told you to do. Do not confuse your agency with his manipulation.”
― Rosie Hewlett, Medea

“[The Applause Complex]
Nothing in this world
frightens me
except applause.
Yes,
I suffer
from what might be called
a chronic
applause complex.
For applause
is the bread of hypocrites,
the talent
of the cunning,
the praise of liars
for other liars,
at the expense
of the wretched
and the weary.
Whenever I hear
the sound of applause,
I remember
all the filthy hands
that clapped
for wars,
massacres,
and slaughter.
All the hands
that clapped
for parties,
ideas,
and religions
that kill humanity
and the human being
every day,
a thousand times
and more.
I feel the applauders
suffocating me,
violating me
in broad daylight.
I feel their hands
like hard slaps
across the faces
of all the strugglers,
the fighters,
the creators
who battle in darkness,
silently
and bitterly,
to secure
a breath of freedom,
the bread of dignity,
and a fair share
of water,
sun,
and green earth
for the unknown ones
for the forgotten,
or the deliberately ignored,
by those busy applauding,
striking palm
against palm,
instead of letting
their fingers embrace
the triggers
of freedom’s rifles,
to fire
the bullets of true revolt
at the wolves
who devour
our humanity
every day,
a thousand times
and more.
And if the people
one day desire life,
they must stop
applauding,
they must cease
their shouting.
Only then
will they awaken
from their long slumber,
from their deep sleep.

April 3, 2014”
― Louis Yako, أنا زهرة برية [I am a Wildflower]

“What, then, was the idea (as James called it) at the heart of the book? Maybe the one hinted at in the epigraph: "The only true silence is a silence shared." Solitary silence is mute because it is, in fact, solitude, and soliloquy can become a confession, but not a novel. "Share" implies the other, which can be, as is the case here, a community.”
― Lalla Romano, A Silence Shared

“[Cancer Everywhere]

I see cancer everywhere,
everywhere.
I see people carefully reading
the ingredients
on food labels,
yet cancer is everywhere.
There are those who jog,
those who run,
those who spend hours
in the gym,
and those who fill their diets
with vegetables and fruit,
yet cancer is everywhere.
There are those
who cut out fats
and sugar entirely,
those who take vitamins
and countless supplements,
yet cancer is everywhere,
everywhere.
Many no longer have time
to smile
or greet one another.
You see them obsessed with eating
more parsley
and tomatoes,
perhaps larger portions
of cranberries,
blueberries,
and broccoli,
yet cancer is everywhere.
They replace their water bottles,
food containers,
and cooking pots
with others made
from safer materials,
yet cancer is everywhere.
Cases of cancer almost rival
the cases of estrangement,
alienation,
betrayal,
surrender,
complacency,
and conspiracy.
They almost rival
humanity's fear
of confronting the ugliness
of what is happening.
And I see everyone
trying to pretend
they are not concerned
by what is going on,
so they may stay alive,
so they may not get cancer.
But cancer is everywhere,
everywhere.

30/10/2022”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“[A Long Life]
This famous writer died
at ninety-two.
That veteran journalist,
cherished by the authorities
and the establishment press,
died
at ninety-five.
That devout clergyman
passed away
at nearly ninety-six.
The celebrated billionaire,
founder of countless companies
and charitable foundations,
also died
at ninety-six.
And that former president,
that seasoned statesman,
died
at ninety-three.
Yet the same questions
have echoed in my ears
ever since I first became aware
of the corruption,
injustice,
and cruelty
of the powerful
and all they do
to the world:
Can those who truly see
and understand
the horror of what is happening
live a long life?
Is it merely a coincidence
that so many of the writers,
artists,
and thinkers
who deepened my awareness
and enlarged my world
died before their time,
by their own hand,
in prison,
or by assassination,
literal or otherwise?
Can even a grain of awareness
enter us
without wearing down
body and soul,
cell by cell,
organ by organ,
until we die
long before our time?
And I wonder:
Did the wealthy writers,
journalists,
clergymen,
and politicians
who lived so long
serve truth
and honesty?
Did they change
our wretched human condition?
Or did they enrich themselves
at its expense,
and thus live
to ninety-two,
ninety-three,
ninety-four,
ninety-five,
and ninety-six?
And my greatest question is this:
Is there,
somewhere,
in some world,
in some sense,
a dagger of awareness
that can pierce
without killing
the wounded
before their time?

31 December 2022”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“[Bread in Exchange for Silence]

The tragedy of the world
has never been
the wicked few,
but the multitude
who deny themselves
a single honest word
or a single courageous line,
lest they deprive
their mouths and stomachs
of the pleasure
of chewing and digesting
their daily bread of humiliation,
kneaded
with the spit
of strangers
and buyers of conscience.
And how many
have seen through
the game of buying and selling,
only to choose
to silence their souls
in exchange
for their daily ration of fodder.

15 January 2023”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“Silence is rarely framed as cowardice. It is framed as professionalism.”
― Paul Gerardi, The Cost of Being Human: Ethics, Power and Conscience in a Performative World

“[Politicians of the Global Slave Market]

To succeed as a politician
in the grand circus
of global political depravity,
one must be willing
to auction off
one's people
and the wealth of one's country
in the imperial marketplace
of human bargaining.
The hallmark
of such politicians
is the ability
to sell everything precious
in the name of honor,
everything sacred
in the name of principles,
and surrender itself
in the name of peace.
As for recognizing them,
nothing could be easier.
They are distinguished
by the absence of action.
Their entire vocabulary
consists of little more than
condemnation,
denunciation,
expressions of concern,
calls for restraint,
and carefully rehearsed appeals
for calm,
all intended
to keep victim
and oppressor
exactly where they are,
for as long as possible.

8 October 2023”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“[The Game of Silence]

So many learned the rules
of the game
and chose silence.
So many remained silent,
believing
their silence would save them.
So many were undone
by that silence,
struck down
before they could utter
even a single cry of protest,
before they could tell the world
that the cost of silence
was far higher
than the cost of resistance.

12 December 2023”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“[Securing Tomorrow]

I watch with sadness
as most people busy themselves
accumulating more money,
winning more promotions,
building larger houses,
buying additional properties
and possessions,
new cars,
ever more goods
and consumer luxuries.
I see them consumed
by the desire to possess
everything their hands can reach,
all in order to secure tomorrow,
to guarantee a life
of comfort and abundance.
Yet few realize
that tomorrow may never come.
And if it does,
it may arrive
sad,
frightening,
and desolate.
Few realize
that it may not rain tomorrow,
that the earth may grow dry,
and that this very obsession
with acquiring more and more
is precisely what will lead humanity
toward its ruin,
after exhausting
every possible form of life.
Few have understood
that fear,
panic,
and the relentless need
to secure tomorrow
are precisely what have made
tomorrow so uncertain.
What a bitter paradox.

7 February 2024”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“[Departure]
Everyone wants to leave.
Those who are here
dream of going there,
while many of those who are there
long to return here.
And there are those
who have come to understand
that life is impossible,
neither here
nor there,
and so, in vain,
they search for alternatives.
But a few have understood
that what makes life impossible
is not geography,
but complicity;
that most of those who leave
and most of those who stay
never part with their complicity
or their habit of surrender,
and so they recreate
the very conditions,
the very causes,
that made them leave
in the first place,
wherever they go.
A few have understood
that no place
will ever be fit for living
if the compliant,
complicit self
is the very thing
that gave birth
to the reasons for departure.

20 June 2024”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“[The Losers]

The losers are closer to my heart,
for they were right.
Integrity does not prevail,
as it does in those trivial Hollywood endings.
It always loses,
outnumbered by those who are afraid,
by those who are willing to sell,
and by those whose interests
cannot coexist
with the demands of honesty.
I love the losers
because they were right.
And I,
who once placed my faith
in humanity,
lost as well.

12 December 2024”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]

“[Happy New Year to Our Complicity]

Let us make this year
truly new,
and truly happy,
by ceasing to be complicit,
and by abandoning
the same worn-out phrases:
"Wishing you a wonderful year!"
or
"Happy New Year!"
Enough of deceiving ourselves.
We are not well.
We are not happy.
And there is nothing new
under a sun that still rises
with weary reluctance,
its heat growing fiercer each year
over a world filled with killing,
war,
and gratuitous death.
And so long as we do nothing
to change our miserable reality
except through dubious funding
from abroad,
then allow me, my friends,
to wish us all
a new year overflowing with more:
more shopping malls
and more consumption,
more bombing,
destruction,
occupation,
and partition,
more military bases,
more arms deals,
more gunpowder,
missiles,
and bombs.
Allow me to wish us a year
in which even more cities
and civilizations are destroyed
in the name of revolutions
orchestrated by those
who care for nothing
but wealth.
I wish us a new year
filled with a silence
more hideous
than the silence of a devil
who sees the truth
and refuses to speak,
for the sake of salaries
and lucrative deals.
And may every year find us
the wound
conspiring with the dagger
buried in our side,
while we shop
and shout with perfect innocence:
"Happy New Year!"

31 December 2024”
― Louis Yako, سرطان في كل مكان [Cancer Everywhere]