Revolution today is taken for granted, and in consequence becomes rather dull.
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957) English Novelist, Painter, Critic
Treason is like diamonds; there is nothing to be made by the small trader.
—Douglas William Jerrold (1803–57) English Writer, Dramatist, Wit
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
The time to stop a revolution is at the beginning, not the end.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
I know and all the world knows, that revolutions never go backwards.
—William H. Seward (1801–72) American Secretary of State, Governor of New York
It is almost never when a state of things is the most detestable that it is smashed, but when, beginning to improve, it permits men to breathe, to reflect, to communicate their thoughts with each other, and to gauge by what they already have the extent of their rights and their grievances. The weight, although less heavy, seems then all the more unbearable.
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) French Historian, Political Scientist
One revolution is just like one cocktail, it just gets you organized for the next.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Revolutions are not made, they come. A revolution is as natural a growth as an oak. It comes out of the past. Its foundations are laid far back.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Lawyer, Orator
You said, “They’re harmless dreamers and they’re loved by the people.”—“What,” I asked you, “is harmless about a dreamer, and what,” I asked you, “is harmless about the love of the people? Revolution only needs good dreamers who remember their dreams.”
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
Revolutions are always verbose.
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) Russian Marxist Revolutionary
The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
In perpetrating a revolution, there are two requirements: someone or something to revolt against and someone to actually show up and do the revolting. Dress is usually casual and both parties may be flexible about time and place, but if either faction fails to attend, the whole enterprise is likely to come off badly.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution.
—Huey P. Newton (1942–89) American Political Activist
At twenty a man is full of fight and hope. He wants to reform the world. When he is seventy he still wants to reform the world, but he know he can’t.
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Civil Liberties Lawyer
Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion.
—Scottish Proverb
A reform is a correction of abuses; a revolution is a transfer of power.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Revolutions are not trifles, but spring from trifles.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Write on my gravestone: “Infidel, Traitor.”—infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Lawyer, Orator
Revolutionaries are more formalistic than conservatives.
—Italo Calvino (1923–85) Italian Novelist, Essayist, Journalist
Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Novelist
The most heroic word in all languages is revolution.
—Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) American Labor Leader, Socialist
What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Great revolutions are the work rather of principles than of bayonets, and are achieved first in the moral, and afterwards in the material sphere.
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–72) Italian Patriot, Political Leader
A nation grown free in a single day is a child born with the limbs and the vigor of a man, who would take a drawn sword for his rattle, and set the house in a blaze that he might chuckle over the splendor.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed.
—Germaine Greer (b.1939) Australia Academic, Journalist, Scholar, Writer
I wouldn’t have turned out the way I was if I didn’t have all those old-fashioned values to rebel against.
—Madonna (b.1958) American Pop Singer, Actress
When the sword of rebellion is drawn, the sheath should be thrown away.
—English Proverb
The only way to support a revolution is to make your own.
—Abbie Hoffman (1936–89) American Political Activist, Anarchist
Revolution is a serious thing, the most serious thing about a revolutionary’s life. When one commits oneself to the struggle, it must be for a lifetime.
—Angela Davis (b.1944) American Political Activist, Academic
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