“If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.”
Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
Some of us have more privilege to spend in the fight against tyranny and thus the final lesson is to be as courageous “as you can.” In tenet #18, Snyder wrote that “courage does not mean not fearing, or not grieving (110).” Courage is feeling the fear and doing the hard work anyway. This work can be small or large, but we all have a responsibility to be as courageous as we can.
What we do in our daily lives affects how things turn out down the road–making eye contact, being careful with our use of language, reading more and drawing from a wide range of knowledge–all the lessons Snyder has been highlighting throughout the book. Snyder argues that being as courageous as we can in our daily lives not only helps us know we’ve done the right thing and all that we could’ve done, but taking courageous risks also keeps tyrants in check and discourages them from taking their own, dangerous risks.
Ultimately, the last eight years have been a reckoning for many Americans—ourselves included. What values do we hold and how do we embody them? What actions do we take in our everyday lives that align with our values? And what actions will we take in extraordinary circumstances?
Hear Snyder speak about this tenet on YouTube.
This lesson was letterpress printed with handset wood type and purple ink on a Vandercook proofing press.
