Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you m… - Timothy Snyder

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Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about — a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union — and take its side.

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About Timothy Snyder

Timothy David Snyder (born 1969) is an American historian specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust.

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Also Known As

Alternative Names: Timothy David Snyder Timothy D. Snyder T.D. Snyder Tim Snyder

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For tyrants, the lesson of the Reichstag fire is that one moment of shock enables an eternity of submission. For us, the lesson is that our natural fear and grief must not enable the destruction of our institutions.

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Professional ethics must guide us precisely when we are told that the situation is exceptional. Then there is no such thing as “just following orders.” If members of the professions confuse their specific ethics with the emotions of the moment, however, they can find themselves saying and doing things that they might previously have thought unimaginable.

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