Quotes about revolution (1732 quotes, page 18)

“For all these things have been illegal, as illegal as the Revolution, as the fall of the Monarchy and of the Bastille, as illegal as liberty itself... Citizens, did you want a revolution without a revolution?”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Misc Quotes
Original: (fr) Citoyens, vouliez-vous une révolution sans révolution?

“For all these things have been illegal, as illegal as the Revolution, as the fall of the Monarchy and of the Bastille, as illegal as liberty itself”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Misc Quotes
Original: (fr) Citoyens, vouliez-vous une révolution sans révolution?

“Human rights did not begin with the French Revolution instead, they really stem from a mixture of Judaism and Christianity”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Said in 1989 according to Anders Breivik & Europe's blind right eye https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/anders-breivik-europes-blind-right-eye/article2290619.ece by Praveen Swami published on July 25, 2011 and updated: AUGUST 16, 2016
1980s

“Fantasy. Lunacy. All revolutions are, until they happen, then they are historical inevitabilities.”

David Mitchell book Cloud Atlas

"An Orison of Sonmi~451", p. 326
Cloud Atlas (2004), An Orison of Sonmi~451 (Part 2)

“Before a revolution can take place, the population must lose faith in both the police and the courts.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Friday

Source: Friday (1982), Chapter 23 (pp. 240-241)
Context: “So far as I have listened, before a revolution can take place, the population must lose faith in both the police and the courts.“ Elementary. Go on. “Well…high taxation is important and so is inflation of the currency and the ratio of the productive to those on the public payroll. But that’s old hat; everybody knows that a country is on the skids when its income and outgo get out of balance and stay that way—even though there are always endless attempts to wish it away by legislation.”

Faith

“We Communists must not separate our study of theory from our ideological self-cultivation. We must remould ourselves and temper our proletarian ideology not only in the practice of revolution but in the study of Marxism-Leninism.”

Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969) 2nd President of the People's Republic of China (1898-1969)

Source: "How to Be a Good Communist - 4. The Unity of Theoretical Study and Ideological Self-Cultivation" https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/liu-shaoqi/1939/how-to-be/ch04.htm (July 1939)

Study

“For the Chinese national revolution to succeed, the participation of the masses of all classes and the building of a united front of all classes are necessary. But among the classes taking part in the national revolution, the working class and the peasantry constitute the main force.”

Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969) 2nd President of the People's Republic of China (1898-1969)

Source: "Mr. Liao Zhongkai and Worker and Peasant Policy" https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/liu-shaoqi/1926/09/26.htm (26 September 1926)

Parting

“Communism is Judaism. The Jewish Revolution in Russia was in 1918.”

Henry Hamilton Beamish (1873–1948) British antisemite (1873-1948)

Source: See War and Debt: The Culling of Humanity https://books.google.com.br/books?id=R1XkAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT261 by Mark Edwards, Xlibris, 2014

Communication

“We are sleepwalking into a mass extinction event - the sixth in our planet's history, and the first to be caused by human economic activity. The rate of extinction is now 1,000 times faster than before the Industrial Revolution.”

Jason Hickel (1982) author

Source: Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World (2021), Welcome to the Anthropocene, p. 8

History , Time

“Where there’s a will there’s a way. We have the will to world revolution, therefore we must find the way to reach the masses of the exploited and the enslaved women, whether the historical conditions make it easy or difficult.”

Clara Zetkin (1857–1933) German politician

Source: As quoted in Fourth Congress of the Communist International https://www.marxists.org/archive/zetkin/1922/ci/women.htm, marxists.org, November 1922.

World , Way , Women

“The basic ideological programme of the great proletarian Cultural Revolution is 'to combat selfishness and criticize revisionism.'”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

Source: Directives on the Cultural Revolution (1966-1972)

Selfishness

“Thinkers prepare the revolution; bandits carry it out.”

Arthur C. Clarke book Richter 10

Source: 1990s, Richter 10 (1996), Chapter 18, “Hidden Faults” (p. 327)

“One can equip himself with the best technology of the era, but still miss the revolution entirely.”

Brig. Gen. Eran Ortal (1971)

Source: Dado Center Journal vol. 16-17, July 2018, https://www.idf.il/%D7%90%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/dado-center/dcj-volume-16-17/

“Who are our enemies and who are our friends? This is the first and foremost question of a revolution and it is also the first and foremost question of the great Cultural Revolution.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

1967
Directives Regarding the Cultural Revolution (1966-1972)

Question

“We are living in the midst of a social revolution in our society. My heart's cry is wake up, wake up America, before it's too late.”

Anita Bryant (1940) American singer

Source: At Any Cost (1978), p. 145

Cry , Heart

“After the so-called Velvet Revolution Slovakia became part of the Western Civilization, and along with a lot of good things, Christians here are confronted with problems such as relativism and materialism, but I think that a lot of people look forward to meeting the Pope.”

Marek Forgáč (1974) Slovak bishop

Source: Auxiliary Bishop of Košice: Pope comes to strengthen the faith https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-09/auxiliary-bishop-of-kosice-pope-comes-to-strengthen-the-faith.html (13 September 2021)

People , Problem , Thinking , Parting

“We want to correct the paths of the revolution and history.”

Kais Saied (1958) Tunisian politician, academic and jurist

Source: Kais Saied (2021) cited in " Tunisian president announces constitutional referendum in 2022 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/13/tunisia-president-announces-referendum-and-elections" on Aljazeera, 13 December 2021.

History

“If and when revolution broke out, it was God’s will and would be a fight to the finish irrespective of consequences.”

Marcelo H. del Pilar (1850–1896) Filipino writer, lawyer, and journalist (1850-1896)

Source: Marcelo H. del Pilar, "Our Anxieties", La Solidaridad, Year VII. No.64 (15 September 1891)
Context: This called for more endurance and patience on their part while peaceful processes were being carried out.

God , Fight

“The natural law is an instrument for progress, not a weapon of revolution.”

Russell Kirk (1918–1994) American political theorist and writer

The Roots of American Order (1974)

Law , Nature

“Cultural work naturally must serve the cause of the People’s Democratic revolution and only then will it benefit the masses. It is most important in cultural work not to ignore the national traditions in form and to maintain its class character in content.”

Kyūichi Tokuda (1894–1953) Japanese politician

New Situation and the Policy of the Communist Party of Japan (1950)

People , Nature

“It is clear that the popular revolution must combine three demands: a life of stability for the people, national independence, and world peace. These demands must be realised through international solidarity.”

Kyūichi Tokuda (1894–1953) Japanese politician

New Situation and the Policy of the Communist Party of Japan (1950)

People , World , Peace , Life

“The revolution will go unnoticed.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)

“It is by the progress of philosophy and by the spectacle of the happiness of France, that you will extend the empire of our revolution, and not by the force of arms and by the calamities of war.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Speech to the National Convention, 10th April 1793
Misc Quotes

War , Happiness

“The August Revolution was a revolution of national liberation. It aimed at liberating the Vietnamese people from the colonial yoke and making Vietnam an independent nation.”

Trường Chinh (1907–1988) former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1907-1988)

Source: The August Revolution (1946) (excerpts), p.42

People

“The working class must provide firm leadership to the people's national democratic revolution and cannot share it with any other class, least of all let it fall into the hands of the national bourgeoisie.”

Trường Chinh (1907–1988) former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1907-1988)

Foward Along the Path Charted by Karl Marx (1968) (excerpts)

People

“The collapse of world imperialism is a long historical process comprising different types of revolutions in various countries, determined by their unequal level of economic, political and social development.”

Trường Chinh (1907–1988) former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1907-1988)

For the Centenary of Lenin’s Birth (1971) (excerpts)

World , Country

“Boston is not a city that takes our rights lightly. Here in the birthplace of revolution, we have always, always fought for each other. We're damn good at it.”

Michelle Wu (1985) City Councilor in Boston, Massachusetts

24 June 2022 "Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says overturning Roe v. Wade will 'ruin lives'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrmQGDRoWCY

“After every revolution there is an interregnum, in which communities run themselves and all is well, and then the new regime comes in and screws things up.”

Kim Stanley Robinson (1952) American science fiction writer

Source: Blue Mars (1996), Chapter 3, “A New Constitution” (p. 156)

Communication

“Revolution suspends habit as well as law. But just as nature abhors a vacuum, people abhor anarchy.”

Kim Stanley Robinson book Green Mars

Source: Green Mars (1993), Chapter 10, “Phase Change” (p. 579)

Law , People , Nature

“Unfortunately, criminals and malefactors have been increasingly enjoying the advantages of the information revolution. I would like to invite you to consider the appropriateness of working out an international instrument to combat computer terrorism.”

Leonid Kuchma (1938) Second president of Ukraine

Speech at the 55th session of the United Nations General Assembly (excerpts) (2000)

“The social and economic revolution of the farm workers is well under way and will not be stopped until they receive equality.”

Dolores Huerta (1930) American labor leader

1966 speech, in Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic and Native Americans, 1790-1995 by Deborah Gillan Straub

Way

“The decline of the churches was a sweeping social revolution, because they had done more than any other institution, public or private, to civilise Australians.”

Geoffrey Blainey (1930) Australian historian

A Shorter History of Australia (1994)

Quotes about revolution page 18

Quotes about revolution
page 18