Theodor Herzl Quotes (11 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

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The Old New Land

Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl: 11 quotes8 likes

Famous Theodor Herzl Quotes

“If you will it, it is no dream.”

Theodor Herzl

“All people's actions were once a dream”

Theodor Herzl

Postfix to Altneuland (1902)
Context: ... but if you will, it may very well be only a legend dreamed up by myself, and will always be so. I had in mind to write a story with a point. There will be those who say, more story than point. After three years we must part, my beloved book. Now you go on your trail of tears. You will have to go through a maze of antagonism and misunderstanding, like through a dark forest. But if you are lucky and meet good people, please send them your father's blessings. He believes that dreams too can be a way to fill the days that man must spend on the face of the earth. The dream is not that far from action as most tend to think. All people's actions were once a dream and all peoples actions will someday be a dream.

“At Basel, I founded the Jewish State”

Theodor Herzl

Herzl Diary entry (3 September 1897), a few days after the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, as quoted in 'Nonstate Nations in International Politics: Comparative System Analyses (1977) by Judy S. Bertelsen, p. 37
:Note: 50 years after writing this in his diary, the state of Israel was established
Context: Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word — which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly — it would be this: At Basel, I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. Perhaps in five years, certainly in fifty, everyone will know it.

“If you will, it is no legend…”

Theodor Herzl

Prefix to Altneuland, (1902)
Originally in German: Wenn ihr wollt, ist es kein Märchen... which was intended to have the double meaning of a strong will shall eventually be realized, and as part of a paragraph ending as a postfix to the book, that this book perhaps will be seen as a true story, but even if not...
The Israeli rightist movement "Im Tirzu" (Literally: 'If you will') is named after this quote.

“Realists are, as a rule, only men in the rut of routine who are incapable of transcending a narrow circle of antiquated notions.”

Theodor Herzl

Der Judenstaat [The Jewish State] (1896)

“…When we sink, we become a revolutionary proletariat, but when we rise, there rises also our terrible power of the purse.”

Theodor Herzl

Herzl about the way the Jews are perceived by antisemites when they do not have a country of their own
Der Judenstaat [The Jewish State] (1896)

“… Let me tell you that my friend and I do not discriminate between humans. We do not ask what race or what religion he is from. He has to be a human being. That is all that's important for us.”

Theodor Herzl book The Old New Land

Altneuland (1902)

“We have honestly endeavored everywhere to merge ourselves in the social life of surrounding communities and to preserve the faith of our fathers. We are not permitted to do so. In vain are we loyal patriots, our loyalty in some places running to extremes; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow-citizens. …In countries where we have lived for centuries, we are still cried down as strangers. …In the world, as it now is and will probably remain, might precedes right. For us to be loyal patriots as were the Huguenots who were forced to emigrate is therefore useless. If we could only be left in peace.... But I think we shall not be left in peace.”

Theodor Herzl

Der Judenstaat [The Jewish State] (1896)