Why should a man be scorned, if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls? The world outside has not become less real because the prisoner cannot see it. In using Escape in this way the critics have chosen the wrong word, and, what is more, they are confusing, not always by sincere error, the Escape of the Prisoner with the Flight of the Deserter. just so a Party-spokesman might have labeled departure from the misery of the Fuhrer's or any other Reich and even criticism of it as treachery .. Not only do they confound the escape of the prisoner with the flight of the deserter; but they would seem to prefer the acquiescence of the "quisling" to the resistance of the patriot. . J.r.r. Tolkien
About This Quote

The quotation above by Leon Trotsky is a criticism of the idea that the only way to escape from prison is to "escape" or run away. He is suggesting that a prisoner does not have to be a coward by running away. In fact, it is better that a prisoner finds a way to escape. And, if he finds no other way, he can still use his mind and think about other things besides the walls of the prison.

Source: Tolkien On Fairystories

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