Revolutionary Times

In these times of great unrest and wavering on the part of the hegemonic ideology of the day, I thought I’d bring together some revolutionary quotes. I do not condone or agree with the actions of every revolutionary I quote below, I just recognise the part they have played in Human history and the influence they had (whether it be theoretical or practical)  in a certain time & place…

“A revolution is not a dinner party or writing an essay or painting a picture or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another” -Mao Tse-tung

“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us and and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.

- Patrick Henry at the Virginia Convention 1775

“The dominant impulse under British rule was that of fear, pervasive, oppressing, strangling fear; fear of the army, the police, the widespread secret service, fear of the official class; fear of laws meant to suppress, and of prison; fear of the landlord’s agent, fear of the moneylender; fear of unemployment and starvation, which were always on the threshold. It was against this all-pervading fear that Gandhi’s quiet and determined voice was raised: Be not afraid. – Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of indepedent India

“It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”- Emiliano Zapata

“There are but three ways for the populace to escape its wretched lot. The first two are by the routes of the wine-shop or the church; the third is by that of the social revolution.”- M A Bakunin

Disobedience in the eyes of any one who has read history is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion. -Oscar Wilde

“The revolution… is a dictatorship of the exploited against the exploiters.” -Fidel Castro

The ultimate end of all revolutionary social change is to establish the sanctity of human life, the dignity of man, the right of every human being to liberty and well-being. -Emma Goldman

“Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.” -Malcolm X

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” – Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara

“People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democratic republic no less than in the monarchy.” – Friedrich Engels

“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.” – Vladimir Lenin

“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.” -Abraham Lincoln

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