I believe that the power of literature is stronger than the power of tyranny.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In general, literature is a natural adversary of totalitarianism. Tyrannical governments all view literature in the same way: as their enemy. I lived for a long time in a totalitarian state, and I know firsthand that horror.
Literature is a far more ancient and viable thing than any social formation or state. And just as the state interferes in literature, literature has the right to interfere in the affairs of state.
Dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible... The writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship.
Literature has its own life, even in a dictatorship like the Soviet Union.
Literature has to serve as a moral control of politics.
In an oppressive society the truth-telling nature of literature is of a different order, and sometimes valued more highly than other elements in a work of art.
Literature led me to freedom, not the other way round.
Tyranny will make an entire population into readers of poetry.
An intellectual's weapon is writing, but sometimes people react as if it were a firearm. A writer can do a lot to change the situation, but as far as I know, no dictatorship has fallen because of a sonnet.
Is literature more important than hurting people? You can't argue that. You can't say it. It's impossible.