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Quotes

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

—Benjamin Franklin, 1776

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

—Germaine Greer, 1970

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

The only justification of rebellion is success.

—Thomas B. Reed, 1878

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

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

—Albert Camus, 1951

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

—Erich Fromm, 1941

If not us, who? If not now, when?

—Czech slogan, 1989
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