No 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, 1851Quotes
Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 63 BCRevolution can never be forecast; it cannot be foretold; it comes of itself. Revolution is brewing and is bound to flare up.
—Vladimir Lenin, 1918All civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution.
—Havelock Ellis, 1921Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1776The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal.
—Erich Fromm, 1941And 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, 1791Who draws his sword against his prince must throw away the scabbard.
—James Howell, 1659Insurgents are like conquerors: they must go forward; the moment they are stopped, they are lost.
—Duke of Wellington, c. 1819