Mikhail Bakunin

About the author

Mikhail Bakunin, father of collectivist anarchism

Mikhail Bakunin was born on 30 May 1814, in Russia. He became a prominent figure in the world of anarchism, with his writings and philosophy heavily influencing the movement. He vehemently opposed authoritarianism and promoted collectivism and federalism as alternative structures for society.

Bakunin died on 1 July 1876, but not before laying the groundwork for generations of anarchists to follow. He penned numerous works throughout his life, providing the foundation for collectivist anarchism. He strongly believed in the inherent equality and freedom of individuals and thought that power and authority are the greatest enemies of this freedom. His influence continues to shape modern understandings of anarchism.

Date of Birth: 30 May 1814

Date of Death: 1 July 1876

Country of Birth: Russia

Political Ideas: Collectivism, Federalism

Quotes Available: 48

Quotes by Mikhail Bakunin

The urge to destory is a creative urge.

If you took the most ardent revolutionary, vested him in absolute power, within a year he would be worse than the Tsar himself.

"Class", "power", "state", are three inseparable terms, one of which presupposes the other two.

Is it not plain that all these governments are systematic poisoners, interested stupefiers of the masses?

The passion for destruction is a creative passion, too.

While we prefer the republic, we must recognise and proclaim that whatever the form of government may be, so long as human society continues to be divided into different classes as a result of the hereditary inequality of occupations, of wealth, of education, and of rights, there will always be a class-restricted government and the inevitable exploitation of the majorities by the minorities.

Anarchism is "stateless socialism."

The liberty of every individual is only the reflection of his own humanity, or his human right through the conscience of all free men, his brothers and his equals.

The oppression of one is the oppression of all, and we cannot violate the liberty of one being without violating the freedom of all of us.

That patriotism which tends toward unity without regard to liberty is an evil patriotism.

Only in respecting their human character do I respect my own.

The individual, his freedom and reason, are the products of society, and not vice versa: society is not the product of individuals comprising it; and the higher, the more fully the individual is developed, the greater his freedom.

I am a fanatic lover of liberty, considering it as the unique condition under which intelligence, dignity and human happiness can develop and grow.

In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.

The state, therefore, is the most flagrant, the most cynical, and the most complete negation of humanity.

Political freedom without economic equality is a pretense, a fraud, a lie; and the workers want no lying.

If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him.

We are firmly convinced that the most imperfect republic is a thousand times better than the most enlightened monarchy.

There is no horror, no cruelty, sacrilege, or perjury, no imposture, no infamous transaction, no cynical robbery, no bold plunder or shabby betrayal that has not been or is not daily being perpetrated by the representatives of the states, under no other pretext than those elastic words, so convenient and yet so terrible: "for reasons of state."

Freedom, the realization of freedom: who can deny that this is what today heads the agenda of history?

When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called "the People's Stick."

Does it follow that I reject all authority? Far from me such a thought. In the matter of boots, I refer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult that of the architect or engineer.

I am truly free only when all human beings, men and women, are equally free.

The state without slavery is unthinkable - and this is why we are the enemies of the state.

This flagrant negation of humanity which constitutes the very essence of the state is, from the standpoint of the state, its supreme duty and its greatest virtue.

Liberty without socialism is privilege and injustice; socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality.

I can feel free only in the presence of and in relationship with other men.

The freedom of other men, far from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary premise and confirmation.

He who desires to worship God must harbor no childish illusions about the matter, but bravely renounce his liberty and humanity.

Man becomes conscious of himself and his humanity only in society and only by the collective action of the whole society.

In a republic, there are at least brief periods when the people, while continually exploited, is not oppressed; in the monarchies, oppression is constant.

By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible.

The second element of freedom is negative. It is the revolt of the individual against all divine, collective, and individual authority.

We must not only act politically, but in our politics act religiously, religiously in the sense of freedom, of which the one true expression is justice and love.

No theory, no ready-made system, no book that has ever been written will save the world. I cleave to no system. I am a true seeker.

I hate communism because it is the negation of liberty and because for me humanity is unthinkable without liberty. I am not a communist, because communism concentrates and swallows up in itself for the benefit of the state all the forces of society, because it inevitably leads to the concentration of property in the hands of the state.

Even the most wretched individual of our present society could not exist and develop without the cumulative social efforts of countless generations.

The state is nothing but this domination and this exploitation, well regulated and systematised.

To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it.

A person is strong only when he stands upon his own truth, when he speaks and acts from his deepest convictions.

Justice, equality, fraternity, prosperity of men... if God exists, all these things are condemned to non-existence.

Since the birth of the state, the world of politics has always been and continues to be the stage for unlimited rascality and brigandage.

As long as we have a master in heaven, we will be slaves on earth.

I am not myself free or human until or unless I recognize the freedom and humanity of all my fellowmen.

Unity is the great goal toward which humanity moves irresistibly.

The peoples' revolution will arrange its revolutionary organization from the bottom up and from the periphery to the centre, in keeping with the principle of liberty.

The liberty of man consists solely in this: that he obeys natural laws because he has himself recognized them as such, and not because they have been externally imposed upon him by any extrinsic will whatever, divine or human, collective or individual.

If there is a state, there must be domination of one class by another and, as a result, slavery.