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May Day Quotes

Browse 55 quotes about May Day.

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May Day Quotes

“National Socialism made use of various means in dealing with various classes, and made various promises depending upon the social class it needed at a particular time. In the spring of 1933, for example, it was the revolutionary character of the Nazi movement that was given particular emphasis in Nazi propaganda in an effort to win over the industrial workers, and the first of May was "celebrated," but only after the aristocracy had been appeased in Potsdam. To ascribe the success solely to political swindle, however, would be to become entangled in a contradiction with the basic idea of freedom, and would practically exclude the possibility of a social revolution. What must be answered is: Why do the masses allow themselves to be politically swindled? The masses had every possibility of evaluating the propaganda of the various parties. Why didn't they see that, while promising the workers that the owners of the means of production would be disappropriated, Hitler promised the capitalists that their rights would be protected?”

FreedomPropagandaSelf DeceptionAuthoritarianismHitlerNazisMay Day19691933Mass PsychologyLower Middle ClassPolitical ManeuveringRise Of NazisPolitical Swindle
Book:The Mass Psychology of Fascism
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“There was a movement at one time, not so many years ago either, which was international in its scope, which had for its object the setting aside the first of May for a general, international holiday, looking ultimately to the inauguration of a short-hour workday, but this grand idea has been side-tracked in later years by a lot of political buncombe and claptrap, thus persuading the working classes into the notion that they can gain their freedom by electing a lot of fellows to office. (1906)”

VotingHolidayWorking ClassMay DayInternational Labor Day
Author:Lucy Parsons
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“Then a soft air, a simple melody, rose to the ears of the suddenly hushed court; and for me, it was May Day again, and I was no longer cold, for the sun burned bright and the grass smelled of its sour-sweet bruisings and an old man fashioned a ballad for the Nut-Brown maid, who would ever be true to her lover. I leaned towards the brightness and, in an abandonment of joy and because there was none to see, tore off my henin and let my nut-brown hair fall to my knees. For I would be a child again, for five minutes, and remember the time when men stopped to gaze at me, with my chaplet of flowers crowning that at which they all marvelled, and longed to touch and stroke and possess.”

LoveYouthHairSpringMay Day
Author:Rosemary Hawley Jarman
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“Poultry workers are paid very little: in the United States, two cents for every dollar spent on a fast-food chicken goes to workers, and some chicken operators use prison labor, paid twenty-five cents per hour. Think of this as Cheap Work. In the US poultry industry, 86 percent of workers who cut wings are in pain because of the repetitive hacking and twisting on the line. Some employers mock their workers for reporting injury, and the denial of injury claims is common. The result for workers is a 15 percent decline in income for the ten years after injury. While recovering, workers will depend on their families and support networks, a factor outside the circuits of production but central to their continued participation in the workforce. Think of this as Cheap Care. The food produced by this industry ends up keeping bellies full and discontent down through low prices at the checkout and drive-through. That's a strategy of Cheap Food....You can't have low-cost chicken without abundant propane: Cheap Energy. There is some risk in the commercial sale of these processed birds, but through franchising and subsidies, everything from easy financial and physical access to the land on which the soy feed for chickens is grown to small business loans, that risk is mitigated through public expense for private profit. This is one aspect of Cheap Money. Finally, persistent and frequent acts of chauvinism against categories of animal and human life -- such as women, the colonized, the poor, people of color, and immigrants -- have made each of these six cheap things possible. Fixing this ecology in place requires a final element -- the rule of Cheap Lives. Yet at every step of this process, humans resist....”

LaborChickenMay DayWorkers RightsPrison Labor
Book:A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet
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“My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.”

PeopleTryingFirstsKindTwoFunnySuccessLeadershipWorkGroupsHard WorkPoliticianSucceedHumorousLaborCompetitionWittyEducationalCreditMinistersBeing SuccessfulGrandfatherGood WorkFatherhoodGrandparentKey To SuccessMy GrandfatherRoad To SuccessRecipe For SuccessGrandpaMotivational WorkLabor DayHard Work Pays OffIgnorance Is BlissGreat GrandfatherGreat GrandparentsMay DayLabour DayHard Work MotivationalHappy Labor DayLabor Day WishesFathers And GrandfathersValue Of Hard WorkWork Appreciation
Author:Indira Gandhi
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“When May, with cowslip-braided locks, Walks through the land in green attire. And burns in meadow-grass the phlox His torch of purple fire: And when the punctual May arrives, With cowslip-garland on her brow, We know what once she gave our lives, And cannot give us now!”

KnowsGivingMayWalksFireOur LivesLandGreenGrassLocksPurpleBrowsTorchesMeadowsGarlandsPunctualAttireMay DaySpring May
Book:The Poetical Works of Bayard Taylor
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“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”

MenInspirationalMindMayDreamInspirationEyeSuccessNightFreedomActingDangerousVanityYour DreamsInsightfulDreamerFollow Your DreamsPillarsArabiaI Had A DreamDreams And RealityDaytimeJust A DreamDreams You HaveArchaeologyRecessDare To DreamSmall DreamsDream WorldDreams And GoalsInspirational GoalFollowing DreamsAchieving DreamsBelieve In Your DreamsDream RealityFollowing My DreamsVisions And DreamsAchieving Your DreamsInspirational DreamLife Is A DreamGoals And MotivationOpen EyesVision Of LifeMay DayGoals DreamsStop DreamingMission And VisionThese EyesDangerous ManFulfilling DreamsDreaming About YouYour Dreams And GoalsPersonal VisionMediocre MindsMan Of My DreamsDreaming At NightIdeas And DreamsDream ActFulfilling Your DreamsWild DreamsDark DreamsOpening Your EyesSimple Dreams
Author:T. E. Lawrence
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“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.”

IfsHeartWould BeNightVoiceNatureColorSpringSeasonsUnbelievableAprilSpringtimeBloomingSpring PoemsApril And SpringSpring SeasonSpring TimeMay DayThink SpringSpring InspirationalSpring MayWelcome SpringSpring GardeningSpringtime InspirationalFunny SpringMarch PoemsHappy SpringWhite Flowers
Book:Letters
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“Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased.”

WorldFirstsWealthMoneyLaborAll ThingsGoldPaidOriginalsProsperityLabourSilverLabor DayMay DayLabour DayHappy Labor DayLabor Day WishesLabour Day WeekendFunny Labor DayLabour Movement
Book:An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations
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“It was a perfectly normal May Day, but Sophie was scared of that too. And when a young man in a fantastical blue-and-silver costume spotted Sophie and decided to accost her as well, Sophie shrank into a shop doorway and tried to hide. The young man looked at her in surprise. "It's all right, you little gray mouse," he said laughing rather pityingly. "I only want to buy you a drink. Don't look so scared.”

MenWantWellsLooksMayLittlesSaidYoungLaughingDrinkNormalDecidedBlueSurpriseScaredYoung ManShopsSilverGrayMiceCostumesDoorwaysSophieMay DayPerfectly Normal
Author:Diana Wynne Jones
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“Now the bright morning-star, Day's harbinger, Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her The flowery May, who from her green lap throws The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire Mirth, and youth, and warm desire! Woods and groves are of thy dressing; Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing. Thus we salute thee with our early song, And welcome thee, and wish thee long.”

MayLongDesireSongWishStarsMorningYouthInspireBlessingSpringGreenDancingWoodsWarmEastWelcomeTheeHillsYellowPaleDressingsBoastLapHailMirthSaluteGroveHarbingerMay DaySpring May
Book:The poems of John Milton
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“Build this day on a foundation of pleasant thoughts. Never fret at any imperfections that you fear may impede your progress. Remind yourself, as often as necessary, that you are a creature of God and have the power to achieve any dream by lifting up your thoughts. You can fly when you decide that you can. Never consider yourself defeated again. Let the vision in your heart be in your life's blueprint. Smile!”

HeartMayDreamInspirationVisionProgressAchieveCreaturesFoundationPleasantThis DayImperfectionDefeatedLiftingBlueprintsMay DayLifting UpPleasant Thoughts
Book:A Better Way to Live: Og Mandino's Own Personal Story of Success Featuring 17 Rules to Live By
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“Also known as May Eve, May Day, and Walpurgis Night, happens at the beginning of May. It celebrates the height of Spring and the flowering of life. The Goddess manifests as the May Queen and Flora. The God emerges as the May King and Jack in the Green. The danced Maypole represents Their unity, with the pole itself being the God and the ribbons that encompass it, the Goddess. Colors are the Rainbow spectrum. Beltane is a festival of flowers, fertility, sensuality, and delight.”

MayHappensNightKnownColorFlowerKingsSpringGreenUnityDelightCelebrateSensualityQueensHeightGoddessRainbowFestivalsSpectrumFloweringRibbonsFertilityFloraMay Day
Author:Selena Fox
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“All furnished, all in arms; All plum'd like estridges that with the wind Bated like eagles having lately bathed; Glittering in golden coats like images; As full of spirit as the month of May And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer; Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.”

MayYoungSpiritSunWindArmsMonthsGoldenCoatsGorgeousEaglesBullsGoatsWantonPlumsMidsummerMay DaySpring May
Book:The plays of William Shakespeare: With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators
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