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.

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

Revolutions are always verbose.

Every revolution by force only puts more violent means of enslavement into the hands of the persons in power.

Rebellion is no less a sin than divination.

All men recognize the right of revolution, that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.

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.

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.

The main object of a revolution is the liberation of man, not the interpretation and application of some transcendental ideology.

The children of the revolution are always ungrateful, and the revolution must be grateful that it is so.

The only justification of rebellion is success.

All revolutions devour their own children.

The peasants alone are revolutionary, for they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The starving peasant, outside the class system, is the first among the exploited to discover that only violence pays. For him there is no compromise, no possible coming to terms.