Do you agree with this statement?

Question

"IT IS BETTER TO DIE STANDING, THAN TO LIVE ON YOUR KNEES."- Ernesto CHE Guevara

I asked if you agreed with the statement, not with Guevara. I also think he is a butcher. But this quote really caught my attention, because I think that one should always fight and not allow to be ruled by anyone. By fight I mean peacefully, not violently.

Answer 1

Yeah.

Better to die believing in yourself and in your ideals and values and purpose, than to live in a way that compromises yourself and your beliefs.

Answer 2

There is much in life that is worth living for that brings me to my knees-- the epiphany of truth, the manifestation of beauty, the revelation of the good, the gift of humility, from which comes the realization of wisdom. Also, the alleviation of suffering through works of generosity often times brings one to their knees. Che Guevara believed that social progress could be accomplished by the murder of innocent people, in this respect he was not different than any of the tyrants he opposed-- and as a result he didn't die standing or kneeling, but he died hunted down like an animal and staring at the faces of all his victims in the barrel of a gun.

Answer 3

actually, that is incorrect. The person who coined that phrase was either Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican Revolutionary, or Jose Marti, the cuban revolutionary.

The quote itself is probably derived from a line spoken by Satan in Milton's Paradise lost "It would be better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven"

I say that because while I agree with the statement, I do not want to associate with a tyrannical monster like Che Guevara, a man whose favorite pasttime was to strangle political prisoners while they were chained to the wall, thus harmless to him.

If you value safety over liberty, go live in a prison.

Answer 4

Its a nice sentiment and one said by leaders who do not intend to do either. Its motivational for sure and stirs people to action on an emotional high. Guevara was a warmonger and not a freedom fighter. He got caught up in the emotion of the Cuban revolution which liberated people from one form of oppression to another form, Castro's communism, that suppressed people for thoughts and deeds. Che did not fit in Cuba after the revolution and because he could spin a good tale, he was seen as a potential threat to Castro. Not wanting to disappear into one of the new Cuban execution centers, he decided to "spread" the revolution in another country. So he went to Bolivia (w/Castro's blessing since he would not be in Cuba) to liberate the peasants. The peasants who joined him preferred being bandits and no one was that interested in having a Cuban style Revolution there so Che was sort of isolated in the mountains unable to do more than strike at small government installations or convoys from time to time. I heard a history professor at Pitt some years ago say that his research since normalization with Cuba indicates that its possible that Castro's regime gave Che up to the US trained troops who killed him. That is the nature of great slogans and of people who make a life of treachery and war. Here is another one, he lives by the sword will die by the sword.

Answer 5

I have nothing nice to say about Che. He strikes me as a hypocrite, saying he wanted to make life better, but only ever amounting to a killer. He should have stayed in medical school, and become a physician, then led a peaceful revolution, tending to those in need, rather than fommenting hatred and desiring the blood of people he knew not. He is also not the first to impart similar sentiments. I prefer those that predate his.

A man's dying is more the survivors' affair than his own. - Thomas Mann (I think this is probably what Che meant, here)


With our shields, or on them, we will return. - Viking Raiders

Give me victory or give me death. - Patrick Henry

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. - Gandhi

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

Yes. I would rather die standing up for what I believe is right than giving in, submitting to what I know is wrong. I would rather die with dignity & righteousness than live to be degraded.

Unless of course the "on your knees" part was in reference to prayer. I am not against praying...

Answer 8

No, life is a precious thing, and to take it away because you can't stand to be dominated is just wrong. I can see, however, if you were being dominated to the point where life was not worth living, how you would not want to live anymore.

Answer 9

I don't agree with it really. But it depends on how you view it. I would rather "live on my knees" as in following Christ.

But, if "living on my knees" meant I was a servant to another human being, as in being forced to live in fear - then no.

Answer 10

Yeah..cause your standing up for something you believe in..or living the way you want to and not by someone Else's standards.