“I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are.”

—  Eugene V. Debs

As quoted in "Life of Eugene V. Debs" by Stephen Marion Reynolds, in Debs : His Life, Writings and Speeches (1908) edited by Bruce Rogers and Stephen Marion Reynolds, p. 71
Context: I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I led you in, some one else would lead you out. You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists use your heads and your hands.

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 "I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out …" by Eugene V. Debs?
Eugene V. Debs photo
Eugene V. Debs 108
American labor and political leader 1855–1926

Related quotes

Carole King photo

“If you're out on the road,
Feeling lonely, and so cold,
All you have to do is call my name
And I'll be there on the next train.Where you lead, I will follow
Anywhere that you tell me to.
If you need, you need me to be with you,
I will follow where you lead.”

Carole King (1942) Nasa

Where You Lead, co-written with Toni Stern
Song lyrics, Tapestry (1971)

Indra Nooyi photo

“Leadership is hard to define and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader. As a leader I am tough on myself and I raise the standard for everybody; however I am very caring because I want people to excel at what they are doing so that they can aspire to be me in the future.”

Indra Nooyi (1955) Indian-born, naturalized American, business executive

Quoted in [Together with Business Studies XI, http://books.google.com/books?id=_XKtUpinyXcC&pg=PA225, Rachna Sagar, 978-81-8137-098-3, 225–]

Julia Gillard photo

“We cannot have the government or the Labor party go to the next election with a person leading the party and a person floating around as the potential alternative leader. Anybody who enters the ballot tonight should do it on the following conditions: that if you win you're Labor leader, that if you lose you retire from politics.”

Julia Gillard (1961) Australian politician and lawyer, 27th Prime Minister of Australia

Calling for a vote of confidence

"Australia politics: Gillard, Rudd in leadership vote" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23058602, in BBC News website, 26 June 2013

“If you want to. That’s the important thing. For you to do what you want to do. Not what you think anyone else wants or expects you to do.”

Vonda N. McIntyre book Dreamsnake

Source: Dreamsnake (1978), Chapter 9 (p. 205)

Toni Morrison photo

“Say make me, remake me. You are free to do it and I am free to let you because look, look. Look where your hands are. Now.”

Toni Morrison book Jazz

Source: Jazz

Thomas Merton photo

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

Thomas Merton (1915–1968) Priest and author

Thoughts in Solitude (1956)

Franco Battiato photo

“You look at the hands, not at the face, if you want to stay out of trouble.”

Franco Battiato (1945) Italian singer-songwriter, composer, and filmmaker

Source: da Strani giorni

“To all the people out there, you know just live out your dreams, if you dream something, just pursue it and do it because if you can put your mind to it you can do basically anything and everything you want to. I mean look at me, I came from a country that was falling apart because of communism and escaping to America, not knowing the language and then not learning it from beginning, and overcoming that and where I am now, you know it just shows you that if you put your mind to it you can do anything you want to.”

Thuy Trang (1973–2001) Vietnamese actress (1973-2001)

Thuy Trang Interview (Encyclopedia of Martial Arts: Hollywood Stars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwNZAqDAFng&t=54s&ab_channel=DietColaTime (1995)

Stephen Chbosky photo

“But right now I’m here with you. And I want to know where you are, what you need, and what you want to do.”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Luise Rainer photo

“I was never proud of anything. I just did it like everything else. To do a film - let me explain to you - it's like having a baby. You labor, you labor, you labor, and then you have it. And then it grows up and it grows away from you. But to be proud of giving birth to a baby? Proud? No, every cow can do that.”

Luise Rainer (1910–2014) German-born Austrian and American film actress

Spartacus Schoolnet biography http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArainer.htm

Related topics