“The attack on July 22 showed that democracy should not be taken for granted. There are forces that want to move away from a society where we all have equal rights and opportunities to influence – and they are willing to use violence to achieve their goals. However, terrorism is just one of many threats to democracy. How do we create a society where everyone feels they have a voice, where we are a community, even if we disagree? By being active citizens, we all contribute to the further development of democracy.”

“You're not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means we're incredibly strong. We need to utilize this power, not give up, to remember we are a huge power. That is being oppressed by these bad dudes. We don't realize how strong we actually are. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. So, don't be inactive.»

“So how do you stand up to a dictator? By embracing values, defined early—they’re the subtitles of the chapters you’ve read: honesty, vulnerability, empathy, moving away from emotions, embracing your fear, believing in the good. You can’t do it alone. You have to create a team, strengthen your area of influence. Then connect the bright spots and weave a mesh together. Avoid thinking in terms of 'us against them.' Stand in someone else’s shoes. And do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

“«Human suffering anywhere», as Elie Wiesel once put it, “concerns men and women everywhere”. Once we have witnessed the suffering, the injustice, the immorality, what do we do next? Do we tell our eyes to forget what they have seen, tell our mouths to not whisper a word, tell our hearts to go numb, slowly? Or do we choose to speak up, speak out, connect, organize, mobilize and demand justice until justice is served?”

“Acts of barbarity can happen fast and on a large scale not when more people turn immoral or evil, not necessarily, but when more people become numb. When we are indifferent, disconnected, atomized. Too busy with our own lives to care about others. Uninterested in and unmoved by someone else’s pain. That is the most dangerous emotion- the lack of emotion.”

“I awoke one night from a disturbing dream;
It felt as if a strange voice spoke earnestly,
Low as a faint, subterranean stream.
I arose and said: “What do you want of me?”
‍
“You must not sleep! You must not sleep!
You must not think it was only a dream.
Picture the theme:
The gallows are built right here on the lawn.
The soldiers will fetch me to-morrow at dawn.

Awaiting our doom
The prisoners’ cells are placed row by row
We lie in the terrible cold below
We are rotting alive in the wretched gloom.

Why we lie here waiting we do not know.
And who shall be the next one to go?
We sigh and we cry, can’t you hear us weeping?
And can you do nothing? O, do not keep sleeping.”

At the end of the film Maria Ressa quotes Martin Niemoller’s poem: “First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out. Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out. Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out. Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me. And there was no one left to speak for me.” Maria proposed an addition to the poem: “Then they came for the journalists. We don’t know what happened after that”