You have to put up some kind of a beef. Scream or holler or scratch or make some sound that you’re alive and can fight. You know, cough or do something. Otherwise, they just walk past you and look at you and say, “He must be dead, he ain’t moving.”" - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
"To Be Young, Gifted & Red", Mother Jones, Sep-Oct 1983, p. 51.
“

You have to put up some kind of a beef. Scream or holler or scratch or make some sound that you’re alive and can fight. You know, cough or do something. Otherwise, they just walk past you and look at you and say, “He must be dead, he ain’t moving.”

— Bill Bailey (Spanish Civil War veteran)

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "You have to put up some kind of a beef. Scream or holler or scratch or make some sound that you’re alive and can fight. You know, cough or do something. Otherwise, they just walk past you and look at you and say, “He must be dead, he ain’t moving.”" in the context of ""To Be Young, Gifted & Red", Mother Jones, Sep-Oct 1983, p. 51." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Bill Bailey (Spanish Civil War veteran)" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Bill Bailey (Spanish Civil War veteran)#something#otherwise#scratch#scream#holler#moving#sound#youre#alive#fight#cough

About Bill Bailey (Spanish Civil War veteran)

William James Bailey (1911 — February 27, 1995) was an American merchant seaman, union organizer, Lincoln Brigade soldier and longshoreman. He was a member of the Communist Party USA from the early 1930's until resigning in 1956, in protest of the Soviets' crushing of the Hungarian Uprising.