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
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Quotes
Every revolution by force only puts more violent means of enslavement into the hands of the persons in power.
—Leo Tolstoy, 1893Revolution begins in putting on bright colors.
—Tennessee Williams, 1944Who draws his sword against his prince must throw away the scabbard.
—James Howell, 1659The only justification of rebellion is success.
—Thomas B. Reed, 1878The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal.
—Erich Fromm, 1941Revolutions are not made by men in spectacles.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1871Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
—John F. Kennedy, 1962No one makes a revolution by himself, and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand.
—George Sand, 1851