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Quote by Rudolf Rocker

“The nation which can only be saved by one man and wants to be saved that way deserves a whipping!”

Quote by Rudolf Rocker

Author

Rudolf Rocker (March 25, 1873 - September 19, 1958) was a German socialist, anarchist, writer, and translator, known for his contributions to anarchist theory and social philosophy. He is considered one of the most important anarchists of the 20th century. more

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“For the anarchist, freedom is not an abstract philosophical concept, but the vital concrete possibility of every human being to bring to full development all the powers, capacities and talents with which nature has endowed them, and turn them to social account.”

Humans Turns Social Human Beings Talent Possibility Development Concepts Capacity Accounts Philosophical Abstract Concrete Anarchist

Book:Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice

Source: Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice

“Power operates only destructively, bent always on forcing every manifestation of life into the straitjacket of its laws. Its intellectual form of expression is dead dogma, its physical form brute force.”

Form Law Force Expression Intellectual Manifestation Dogma Bent Brutes Brute Force Dead Dog

Book:Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice

Source: Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice

“The peoples owe all political rights and privileges which we enjoy today in greater or lesser measure, not to the good will of their governments, but to their own strength. One need only study the history of the past three hundred years to understand by what relentless struggles every right has had to be wrested inch by inch from the despots.”

“For the machine, because of the way it is built, can work only in a given direction, no matter who pulls its levers.”

Way Matter Given Built Machines Levers

Author:Rudolf Rocker

“I am an Anarchist not because I believe Anarchism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal.”

Believe I Believe Goal Politician Finals Anarchism Anarchist Long Term Goals

Book:The London years

Source: The London years

“Power operates only destructively, bent always on forcing every manifestation of life into the straitjacket of its laws. Its intellectual form of expression is dead dogma, its physical form brute force. And this unintelligence of its objectives sets its stamp on its supporters also and renders them stupid and brutal, even when they were originally endowed with the best of talents. One who is constantly striving to force everything into a mechanical order at last becomes a machine himself and loses all human feeling.”

Humans Feelings Lasts Form Law Order Force Loses Talent Stupid Expression Intellectual Machines Strive Objectives Manifestation Dogma Brutal Supporter Bent Stamps Brutes Brute Force Dead Dog

Author:Rudolf Rocker

“Anarchism is no patent solution for all human problems, no Utopia of a perfect social order, as it has often been called, since on principle it rejects all absolute schemes and concepts. It does not believe in any absolute truth, or in definite final goals for human development, but in an unlimited perfectibility of social arrangements and human conditions which are always straining after higher forms of expression, and to which for this reason one can assign no definite terminus nor set any fixed goal.”

Source: Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice

“Power always acts destructively, for its possessors are ever striving to lace all phenomena of social life into a corset of their laws to give them a definite shape. Its mental expression is dead dogma; its physical manifestation of life, brute force. This lack of intelligence in its endeavours leaves its imprint likewise on the persons of its representatives, gradually making them mentally inferior and brutal, even though they were originally excellently endowed. Nothing dulls the mind and soul of man as does the eternal monotony of routine, and power is essentially routine.”

“Asceticism in most cases is either the result of a sordid imagination or of passion diverted from its natural course, and experience has shown that when the protection of public morals is entrusted to its votaries, the consequences are usually appalling.”

Passion Courses Imagination Natural Results Moral Cases Consequence Protection Asceticism

Author:Rudolf Rocker

“Political rights do not exist because they have been legally set down on a piece of paper, but only when they have become the ingrown habit of a people, and when any attempt to impair them will meet with the violent resistance of the populace... One compels respect from others when he knows how to defend his dignity as a human being... The people owe all the political rights and privileges which we enjoy today in greater or lesser measure, not to the good will of their governments, but to their own strength.”