If they decide to kill me then it means we are incredibly strong and we need to use that power and not give up... — Alexej Nawalny

If they decide to kill me then it means we are incredibly strong and we need to use that power and not give up.

Author: Alexej Nawalny

Insight: There's a strange kind of clarity that comes when you stop being afraid of the worst-case scenario. Once you accept that those in power might actually try to eliminate you for what you believe, a lot of smaller intimidations stop working. The threats, the smear campaigns, the frozen bank accounts—they become part of the same landscape instead of separate horrors to dread. What makes this perspective radical isn't just the courage, but the logic underneath it. Navalny's saying that if powerful people see you as dangerous enough to kill, that's actually evidence you're doing something that matters. Most of us spend our lives trying not to be noticed by those in power, thinking invisibility equals safety. But he's flipping that: being targeted means your work has weight. It means you've moved beyond being ignored, which is its own kind of power. The harder question is what to do with that realization when you're not literally risking your life—when you're just risking your comfort, your job, your reputation. How much of this principle translates to ordinary courage? If we believed half as fiercely that our small acts of resistance matter, that we're stronger than we think, what would we stop giving up on?