Citizenship Papers (2003), The Failure of War
Context: We are disposed, somewhat by culture and somewhat by nature, to solve our problems by violence, and even to enjoy doing so. And yet by now all of us must at least have suspected that our right to live, to be free, and to be at peace is not guaranteed by any act of violence. It can be guaranteed only by our willingness that all other persons should live, be free, and be at peace — and by our willingness to use or give our own lives to make that possible.
“It is not possible for any thinking person to live in such a society as our own without wanting to change it.”
"Why I Joined the Independent Labour Party", New Leader (24 June 1939)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
George Orwell 473
English author and journalist 1903–1950Related quotes
Source: Myth and Meaning (1978), Chapter 4 : When Myth Becomes History
As quoted in "Wikimedia Founder Jimmy Wales Responds," by Robin "Roblimo" Miller, Slashdot (28 July 2004)
Interview with Evelyn Rich (March 1985)
"Society Without A State" in The Libertarian Forum (1975) http://www.mises.org/journals/lf/1975/1975_01.pdf.
Context: I define anarchist society as one where there is no legal possibility for coercive aggression against the person or property of any individual. Anarchists oppose the State because it has its very being in such aggression, namely, the expropriation of private property through taxation, the coercive exclusion of other providers of defense service from its territory, and all of the other depredations and coercions that are built upon these twin foci of invasions of individual rights.