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Quotes

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

—John F. Kennedy, 1962

Who draws his sword against his prince must throw away the scabbard.

—James Howell, 1659

Those who give the first shock to a state are the first overwhelmed in its ruin; the fruits of public commotion are seldom enjoyed by him who was the first mover; he only beats the water for another’s net.

—Michel de Montaigne, 1580

And then, sir, there is this consideration: that if the abuse be enormous, nature will rise up and, claiming her original rights, overturn a corrupt political system.

—Samuel Johnson, 1791

Governments are not overthrown by the poor, who have no power, but by the rich—when they are insulted by their inferiors and cannot obtain justice.

—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, c. 20 BC

Revolutions are celebrated when they are no longer dangerous. 

—Pierre Boulez, 1989

Rebellion is no less a sin than divination.

—Book of Samuel, c. 550 BC

All revolutions devour their own children.

—Ernst Röhm, 1933

An oppressed people are authorized, whenever they can, to rise and break their fetters.

—Henry Clay, 1842

Insurgents are like conquerors: they must go forward; the moment they are stopped, they are lost.

—Duke of Wellington, c. 1819

The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed.

—Germaine Greer, 1970

All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the state.

—Albert Camus, 1951

The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative on the day after the revolution.

—Hannah Arendt, 1970