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.

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.

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

The only justification of rebellion is success.

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

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 successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door. The violence of revolutions is the violence of men who charge into a vacuum.

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.

Revolutions are not made by men in spectacles.

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

There is a kind of revolution of so general a character that it changes the mental tastes as well as the fortunes of the world.

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

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