Revolutions are not made by men in spectacles.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Too long denial of guaranteed right is sure to lead to revolution — bloody revolution, where suffering must fall upon the innocent as well as the guilty.
—Ulysses S. Grant (1822–85) American Head of State, Military Leader
The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.
—Che Guevara (1928–67) Argentinean Political leader, Diplomat, Physician, Author
It’s not the work which kills people, it’s the worry. It’s not the revolution that destroys machinery it’s the friction.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Protestant Clergyman, Social Reformer, Abolitionist
The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it.
—Abbie Hoffman
He that goeth about to persuade a multitude that they are not so well governed as they ought to be shall never want attentive and favorable hearers.
—Richard Hooker (1554–1600) English Anglican Priest, Theologian
The Negro revolution is controlled by foxy white liberals, by the Government itself. But the Black Revolution is controlled only by God.
—Malcolm X (1925–65) American Civil Rights Leader
Revolutions are not made, they come. A revolution is as natural a growth as an oak. It comes out of the past. Its foundations are laid far back.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Social Activist, Lawyer, Orator
Those who give the first shock to a state are naturally the first to be overwhelmed in its ruin. The fruits of public commotion are seldom enjoyed by the man who was the first to set it a-going; he only troubles the water for another’s net.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
The most heroic word in all languages is revolution.
—Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) American Socialist, Union Leader
Revolutionaries are more formalistic than conservatives.
—Italo Calvino (1923–85) Italian Journalist, Short Story Writer, Novelist, Essayist
I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with Blood.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
Revolutions are not made for export.
—Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) Russian Head of State, Political leader
At twenty a man is full of fight and hope. He wants to reform the world. When he is seventy he still wants to reform the world, but he know he can’t.
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Lawyer
Revolutions are not made; they come.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Social Activist, Lawyer, Orator
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 (b.1939) Australia Academic, Journalist, Scholar, Writer
Revolutions never go backwards.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Social Activist, Lawyer, Orator
A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chinese Statesman
Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.
—Franz Kafka (1883–1924) Austrian Novelist, Short Story Writer
The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he can’t sit on it.
—William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) English Anglican Clergyman, Priest, Mystic
Political convulsions, like geological upheavings, usher in new epochs of the world’s progress.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Social Activist, Lawyer, Orator
In perpetrating a revolution, there are two requirements: someone or something to revolt against and someone to actually show up and do the revolting. Dress is usually casual and both parties may be flexible about time and place, but if either faction fails to attend, the whole enterprise is likely to come off badly.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
Great revolutions are the work rather of principles than of bayonets, and are achieved first in the moral, and afterwards in the material sphere.
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–72) Italian Philosopher, Politician, Political Activist, Journalist
Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.
—Che Guevara (1928–67) Argentinean Political leader, Diplomat, Physician, Author
History teaches us that the great revolutions aren’t started by people who are utterly down and out, without hope and vision. They take place when people begin to live a little better—and when they see how much yet remains to be achieved.
—Hubert Humphrey (1911–78) American Head of State, Politician
Write on my gravestone: “Infidel, Traitor.”–infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Social Activist, Lawyer, Orator