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.
—Mikhail Bakunin, 1871Quotes
Who draws his sword against his prince must throw away the scabbard.
—James Howell, 1659To cast aside obedience, and by popular violence to incite revolt, is treason, not against man only, but against God.
—Pope Leo XIII, 1885There is a kind of revolution of so general a character that it changes the mental tastes as well as the fortunes of the world.
—La Rochefoucauld, 1665And 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, 1791Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1776Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
—John F. Kennedy, 1962Revolutions are celebrated when they are no longer dangerous.
—Pierre Boulez, 1989Governments 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.
—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, c. 20 BC