“Those rebels who rise up to try to wrest back power from despotic forces will endure not only the violence of the state, but the hatred and vigilante violence meted out by the self-deluded victims of exploitation. The systems of propaganda will relentlessly demonize those who resist.”

—  Chris Hedges

"The Illusion of Freedom" (2015)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Those rebels who rise up to try to wrest back power from despotic forces will endure not only the violence of the state…" by Chris Hedges?
Chris Hedges photo
Chris Hedges 81
American journalist 1956

Related quotes

Denis Diderot photo

“Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.”

Denis Diderot (1713–1784) French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopædist

La puissance qui s'acquiert par la violence n'est qu'une usurpation, et ne dure qu'autant que la force de celui qui commande l'emporte sur celle de ceux qui obéissent.
Article on Political Authority, Vol. 1 (1751)
L'Encyclopédie (1751-1766)

Voltairine de Cleyre photo

“Those who, by the essence of their belief, are committed to Direct Action only are — just who? Why, the non-resistants; precisely those who do not believe in violence at all!”

Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912) American anarchist writer and feminist

Direct Action (1912)
Context: Those who, by the essence of their belief, are committed to Direct Action only are — just who? Why, the non-resistants; precisely those who do not believe in violence at all! Now do not make the mistake of inferring that I say direct action means non-resistance; not by any means. Direct action may be the extreme of violence, or it may be as peaceful as the waters of the Brook of Siloa that go softly. What I say is, that the real non-resistants can believe in direct action only, never in political action. For the basis of all political action is coercion; even when the State does good things, it finally rests on a club, a gun, or a prison, for its power to carry them through.

Jane Roberts photo
Vladimir Lenin photo
Dietrich Bonhoeffer photo
Vladimir Lenin photo
David Mitchell photo
Salman Rushdie photo

“The responsibility for violence lies with those who perpetrate it.”

Salman Rushdie (1947) British Indian novelist and essayist

"In Good Faith" (1990), p. 19

Ulrike Meinhof photo

Related topics