
“The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.”
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 52 (3 March 1919).
1910s
The Spirit of Revolt (1880)
Context: The direction which the revolution will take depends, no doubt, upon the sum total of the various circumstances that determine the coming of the cataclysm. But it can be predicted in advance, according to the vigor of revolutionary action displayed in the preparatory period by the different progressive parties. … The party which has made most revolutionary propaganda and which has shown most spirit and daring will be listened to on the day when it is necessary to act, to march in front in order to realize the revolution.
“The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.”
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 52 (3 March 1919).
1910s
Source: 1930s-1950s, "The Nature of the Firm" (1937), p. 393
Source: The invisible religion, 1967, p. 114
“The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.”
Source: Political Aphorisms, Moral and Philosophical Thoughts (1848), p. 146
Revolution by Number
I suspect there was nothing original about my journey, but it led me to a quiet, but firm belief:
that this mortal world, is it.
And, our measure as human beings, is entirely defined by what we do within it.
From the autobiography
Existentialism Is a Humanism, lecture http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm (1946)
Context: We will freedom for freedom’s sake, in and through particular circumstances. And in thus willing freedom, we discover that it depends entirely upon the freedom of others and that the freedom of others depends upon our own. Obviously, freedom as the definition of a man does not depend upon others, but as soon as there is a commitment, I am obliged to will the liberty of others at the same time as my own. I cannot make liberty my aim unless I make that of others equally my aim.
2014, Speech: Sponsorship Speech for the FY 2015 National Budget