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.

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

To escape its wretched lot, the populace has three ways, two imaginary and one real. The first two are the rum shop and the church; the third is the social revolution.

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

The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced.

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.

Revolutionaries are greater sticklers for formality than conservatives.

Revolution begins in putting on bright colors.

Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny, they have only shifted it to another shoulder.

All revolutions devour their own children.

If there was ever a just war since the world began, it is this in which America is now engaged.

To cast aside obedience, and by popular violence to incite revolt, is treason, not against man only, but against God.