can you help me interpret this quote please

"If you are silent about your pain then they will kill you ,and say that you have enjoyed it"
By Zora Neale Hurston



Answer :

It means that if you do not speak up about being depressed or "in pain" people around you that you interact with will unknowingly kill you on the inside and when/if you speak up they will assume you enjoyed it because you did not speak up before. Its a metaphor you see... if someone were to continuously stab you and you didnt speak up, they would stab you to death and assume you liked it for not acknowleding your pain. (excuse my terrible grammar im using an uncomfortable tablet with no auto correct and am trying to type this fast.)
It's exactly what it says, on one hand, saying that people must learn to voice their concerns and problems or else they will never be fixed or noticed.

On the other hand, you could take a much deeper look at it and show how people ignore each other's pain often when it is not plainly voiced.

It probably depends a bit more on context, but this should be good enough.