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Quotes

The spirit of revolution, the spirit of insurrection, is a spirit radically opposed to liberty.

—François Guizot, 1830

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

—Benjamin Franklin, 1776

The only justification of rebellion is success.

—Thomas B. Reed, 1878

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

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

—Hannah Arendt, 1970

Revolutions are not about trifles, but they are produced by trifles. 

—Aristotle, c. 350 BC

Revolutionaries are greater sticklers for formality than conservatives.

—Italo Calvino, 1957

The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal.

—Erich Fromm, 1941

In revolutions men fall and rise. Long before this war is over, much as you hear me praised now, you may hear me cursed and insulted.

—William Tecumseh Sherman, 1864

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

—Duke of Wellington, c. 1819

All civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution.

—Havelock Ellis, 1921

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

—James Howell, 1659

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