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Saul D. Alinsky Quotes

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Famous Saul D. Alinsky Quotes

“Life is an adventure of passion, risk, danger, laughter, beauty, love, a burning curiosity to go with the action to see what it is all about, to search for a pattern of meaning, to burn one's bridges because you're never going to go back anyway, and to live to the end. Terrified by this dramatic vista, most people just exist; they turn from the turbulence of change and try to hide in their private make-believe harbors, called in politics conservatism; in the church, prudence; and in everyday life, being sensible.”

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Book:Reveille for Radicals
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“Paradoxically the roots of the radical's irreverence toward his present society lie in his reverence for the values and promises of the democratic faith, of the free and open society. He is angry with and hates those parts of the body politic that have broken faith with the future, with the dreams and hopes of a free way of life. His is a quest for a future: where everyone would have a job, a real job--more than just a paycheck--a job that would be meaningful to society as well as to the worker; a future where everyone would have full opportunities to achieve his potentiality; where education, good housing, health, and full equality for all would be universal; a promised land of peace and plenty; a world where all the revolutionary slogans of the past would come to life: "Love your neighbor as you would love yourself"; "You are your brother's keeper"; "Liberty, Fraternity, Equality"; "All men are created equal"; "Peace and bread"; "For the general welfare"; a world where the Judeo-Christian values and the promise of the American Constitution would be made real. Each victory will bring a new vision of human happiness, for man's highest end is to create--total fulfillment, total security, would dull the creative drive. Ours is really the quest for uncertainty, for that continuing change which is life. The pursuit of happiness is never ending--the happiness lies in the pursuit.”

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“Whether we like it or not, whether we logically choose to face it or not, the world is increasingly undergoing violent revolutionary upheavals. The world we knew as recently as yesterday is as dead as though it had died a century ago. We know that while certain forms and things of yesterday’s world still persist they are nothing but ghosts of the past that will of themselves soon fade into man’s memory and what we call history. Many people nevertheless long for a return to what used to be. Even with all of its faults they long for it — after all, were familiar with it. Fear of looking squarely ahead and trying honestly to find out what we can of what lies before us is actually one of the most significant factors in creating the crisis. It is the mass fear of trying to pierce the darkness ahead that paralyzes us into indecision and wretchedness. Unless we face it, inquire into it as far as we can, we will not only be powerless to take a hand in the shaping of our own destiny but may be unable to recognize and exploit the new opportunities. Unless we constantly peer forward into the future we will not see the many opportunities the future holds, we will fail to grasp them, and the end will be tragedy. We will miss our greatest chance, our only chance, if we continue looking backward instead of forward. To pursue the past is to seek a mirage. The past is dead and men cannot continue as ghosts. It is only in the future that we can live. But we cannot see the light of the future if we deliberately close our eyes and turn our heads.”

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Book:Reveille for Radicals
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“The radical fights not for himself but for ideas, and ideas have a way of living on — they don’t kill as easily as man, and he knows that in the end the best ideas or wav of life will prevail. The radical’s affection for people is not lessened, nor is he hardened against them even when masses of them demonstrate a capacity for brutality, selfishness, hate, greed, avarice, and disloyalty. He is convinced that these attitudes and actions are the result of evil conditions. It is not the people who must be judged but the circumstances that made them that way. The radical’s desire to change society then becomes that much firmer. Each blow makes him a stronger radical.”

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“The building of People’s Organizations is the creation of a set of realignments, new definitions of values and objectives, the breaking down of prejudices and barriers and all of the many other changes which flow out of a People’s Organization. The actual development of these social forces, coupled with the popular education, participation, and reorientation which is part of this whole process, inevitably means significant changes in the attitudes, the philosophies, and the programs of the constituent community agencies as well as the local people.”

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“It is in an all-inclusive People’s Organization that people fight and think as people, as Americans, and not as businessmen, workers, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, whites, or colored. A People’s Organization inevitably smashes all artificial barriers, sectarian interests, religious, nationality, and racial distinctions. It is made up of people, its program is a people’s program, and they think together, work together, fight together, hope together, achieve together, as people. The issue to be resolved is the creation of a world for the little people, a world where the millions instead of the few can live in dignity, peace, and security.”

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“The tragedy of the young generation's "radicals" is that they dogmatically refuse to begin with the world as it is. But the only world we have is the world as it is, and we have to begin with that. Any social changer, throughout history, has always known that you begin from where you are. Change can only be effected through power, and power means organization. Organization can be built only around issues which are specific, immediate, and realizable.”

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