“Once on the road of terrorism, the State necessarily becomes estranged from the people.”

— Alexander Berkman, book The Bolshevik Myth

"The Bolshevik Myth" in Anarchism : A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Vol. 1 (2005) edited by Robert Graham, p. 312. 
Context: Terrorism is tempting with its tremendous possibilities. It offers a mechanical solution, as it were, in hopeless situations. … the principles of terrorism unavoidably rebound to the fatal injury of liberty and revolution. Absolute power corrupts and defeats its partisans no less than its opponents. A people that knows not liberty becomes accustomed to dictatorship: fighting despotism and counter-revolution, terrorism itself becomes their efficient school. Once on the road of terrorism, the State necessarily becomes estranged from the people.

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Alexander Berkman6

anarchist and writer 1870–1936

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“Once on the road of terrorism, the State necessarily becomes estranged from the people.”

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Alexander Berkman6

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