quotations about revolution
The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation's development. A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success. Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Freedom from Fear
Human; Not Human
Freedom; Not Freedm
Change; No Change
Revolution!
JEAN MICHEL JARRE
"Revolution, Revolutions"
Look what's happening out in the streets
Got a revolution (got to revolution)
Hey, I'm dancing down the streets
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
"Volunteers"
Revolutions aren't led by well-meaning wimps. Revolutions are about seizing power. They are about righting wrongs. Revolutions demand fierce confrontation and, as Robespierre might say, sharply-administered accountability.
JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
"When Chivalry Fails: St. Bernard and the Machine", Counterpunch, February 5, 2016
Revolution requires extensive and widespread destruction, a fecund and renovating destruction, since in this way and only this way are new worlds born.
MIKHAIL BAKUNIN
"Statism and Anarchy"
I feel anxious for the fate of our monarchy, or democracy, or whatever is to take place. I soon get lost in a labyrinth of perplexities; but, whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion.
ABIGAIL ADAMS
letter to John Adams, November 27, 1775
In my view the time for rousing revolutionary literature has passed, because the revolution has already revolutionised itself to death and has left behind only bitterness and a sort of weariness, listlessness and even nausea.
GAO XINGJIAN
Cold Literature", The Case for Literature
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Remarks on the first anniversary of the Alliance for Progress, March 13, 1962
Revolutions are painful by definition; old things are broken and swept away. New things are tried, adjusted and tried again. Old habits die hard and new ones are slow to form. But I am optimistic. I know that nothing human really lasts as long as the grass shall grow and the rivers shall flow, but this revolution will succeed in part because the grass grows, the wind blows and the water still flows.
STAFF WRITER
"As long as the grass shall grow", Rutland Herald, February 7, 2016
Left and right, the sour mood of the country burns for a true political and economic rebellion. It may well happen. But look for it out on the streets, not in the hollow rituals of these elections.
JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
"When Chivalry Fails: St. Bernard and the Machine", Counterpunch, February 5, 2016
Revolutions are all based on the false idea that humans and their nature can be changed. And once changed, they will fit neatly into the Utopia.
PETER HITCHENS
Daily Mail, November 18, 2017
Revolutions are not a rosy affair, no matter where. You can't cut out just one thing.
YURY FILATOV
"Allegations of Russian interference are ludicrous, says new ambassador", Irish Times, November 20, 2017
Revolutions are never pleasant or pretty. Dismantling a power structure is like dismantling a bomb. Embarrassment and confusion fill the air.
RAVIT HECHT
"There Are No Pretty Revolutions", Haaretz, November 10, 2017
It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws. But when it comes it moves irresistibly.
VLADIMIR LENIN
speech at the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow, August 23, 1918
Hurrah for revolution and more cannon-shot!
A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar on foot.
Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again!
The beggars have changed places, but the lash goes on.
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
"The Great Day", Last Poems
The history of the human race always has been, and most likely always will be, that of evolution and revolution.
LEWIS F. KORNS
Thoughts
First, what is a revolution? Sometimes I'm inclined to believe that many of our people are using this word "revolution" loosely, without taking careful consideration [of] what this word actually means, and what its historic characteristics are. When you study the historic nature of revolutions, the motive of a revolution, the objective of a revolution, and the result of a revolution, and the methods used in a revolution, you may change words. You may devise another program. You may change your goal and you may change your mind.
MALCOLM X
Message to the Grass Roots, November 10, 1963
So much in a revolution is nothing but waiting.
SINCLAIR LEWIS
It Can't Happen Here