19th Century – Page 3 – Anarchist Quotes

"It is often said that anarchists live in a world of dreams to come, and do not see the things which happen today. We do see them only too well, and in their true colors, and that is what makes us carry the hatchet into the forest of prejudice that besets us."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"In place of the cowardly phrase, "Obey the law," our cry is "Revolt against all laws!""

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The reaction always begins where one tries to bring life to a certain norm. That is why yesterday's revolutionaries so often become today's reactionaries."

— Rudolf Rocker,
anarcho-syndicalist (1873 ‐ 1958)
Influential anarchist writer and speaker

"The CNT which is the most powerful organisation in Spain must take up its rightful place in the collective order. Its battles must be in tune with its greatness."

— Buenaventura Durruti,
anarcho-syndicalist (1896 ‐ 1936)
Influential Spanish anarchist and militant

"The task of the conscious minority is to profit from every situation to change the environment in a way that will make possible the education of the whole people."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"In place of the cowardly phrase, "Obey the law," our cry is "Revolt against all laws!""

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"We must tear down the pyramids, the tumuli, the tombs. We must bring the wheelbarrows into the cemeteries so as to rid humanity of what they call respect for the dead, but which is the cult of carrion."

— Albert Libertad,
Anarcho-individualist (1875 ‐ 1908)
Anarchist militant and writer

"No, there is no need to fear life without government; we long for it with all of our hearts."

— Ricardo Flores Magon,
Anarcho-communist (1874 ‐ 1922)
Mexican anarchist and revolutionary journalist

"We cannot pretend that we do not see the policeman who walks in front of the windows with a loaded revolver, defending us, while we eat our savory dinner or view a new performance, or those soldiers who will immediately go with their guns and loaded cartridges to where our property will be violated."

— Leo Tolstoy,
anarcho-pacifist (1828 ‐ 1910)
Russian author, pacifist and social anarchist

"Instead of inanely repeating the old formula, "Respect the law," we say, "Despise law and all its attributes!""

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Instead of inanely repeating the old formula, "Respect the law," we say, "Despise law and all its attributes!""

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"What economists call over-production is but a production that is above the purchasing power of the worker, who is reduced to poverty by capital and state."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"What economists call over-production is but a production that is above the purchasing power of the worker, who is reduced to poverty by capital and state."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"You who are resigned, look: I spit on your idols. I spit on God, the Fatherland, I spit on Christ, I spit on the flag, I spit on capital and the golden calf; I spit on laws and Codes, on the symbols of religion; they are baubles, I could not care less about them, I laugh at them..."

— Albert Libertad,
Anarcho-individualist (1875 ‐ 1908)
Anarchist militant and writer

"There is no hope even that woman, with her right to vote, will ever purify politics."

— Emma Goldman,
anarcho-feminist (1869 ‐ 1940)
Influential anarchist, political activist, writer.

"A dictatorial committee composed of workers is certainly the thing one could find most inflated with self-importance and nullity and, consequently, the most anti-revolutionary."

— Joseph Dejacque,
Anarcho-Communist (1821 ‐ 1864)
French early anarchocommunist, poet and essayist

"The liberal government of Spain could have rendered the fascist elements powerless long ago. Instead it compromised and dallied."

— Buenaventura Durruti,
anarcho-syndicalist (1896 ‐ 1936)
Influential Spanish anarchist and militant

"That the communist sees in you the man, the brother, is only the Sunday side of communism... If you were a "lazy-bones," he would not indeed fail to recognize the man in you, but would endeavour to cleanse him as a "lazy man" from laziness and to convert you to the faith that labor is man's "destiny and calling.""

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"Charity creates a multitude of sins."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Freedoms are not given, they are taken."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Freedoms are not given, they are taken."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"Sociability is as much a law of nature as mutual struggle."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Sociability is as much a law of nature as mutual struggle."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Freedom can only be the whole of freedom; a piece of freedom is not freedom."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"The Communist power installed itself by military force, not only when the Bolsheviks occupied a place after a battle to drive out the Petliurists, but also in places where the region was already free and the peasants were on their own."

— Peter Arshinov,
anarcho-communist (1887 ‐ 1937)
Russian anarchist, memoirist, and metalworker

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"The anarchist ideals are far from being in contradiction, as the "scientific socialists" claim, to the laws of evolution as proved by science; they are a conception which fits these laws perfectly; they are the experimental system brought from the field of research to that of social realization."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"Dictatorship, whether it is a hydra with a hundred heads or a hundred tails, whether they are autocratic or demagogic, can certainly do nothing for liberty: it can only perpetuate slavery, morally and physically."

— Joseph Dejacque,
Anarcho-Communist (1821 ‐ 1864)
French early anarchocommunist, poet and essayist

"The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right."

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"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.""

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"In creating the articles of the Criminal Code, the legislators forgot that they didn't attack the causes, but only the effects, and so they don't in any way destroy crime. In truth, the causes continuing to exist, the effects will necessarily flow from them. There will always be criminals, for today you destroy one, but tomorrow ten will be born."

— Ravachol,
Anarcho-communist (1859 ‐ 1892)
French anarchist and symbol of revolt

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"There is one common struggle against those who have appropriated the earth, the money, and the machines."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"Those that envision the goal from the first steps, those that want the certitude of reaching it before walking never arrive."

— Albert Libertad,
Anarcho-individualist (1875 ‐ 1908)
Anarchist militant and writer

"Instead of entrusting the defence of your interests to others, see to the matter by yourselves. Instead of trying to choose advisers that will guide you in future actions, do the thing yourselves, and do it now! Men of good will shall not have to look long in vain for the opportunity. To put on others' shoulders the responsibility of one's actions is cowardice."

— Elisee Reclus,
Anarcho-Communist (1830 ‐ 1905)
French geographer, writer and anarchist

"The solutions to each problem must not only be the most economically viable ones but must respond to the imperatives of justice and liberty and be those most likely to keep open the way to future improvements. If necessary, justice, liberty and solidarity must take priority over economic benefit."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"The sworn enemy of your emancipation is the state: it is best embodied by the union of these five stereotypes: the property-owner, the soldier, the judge, the priest and the one who serves them all, the intellectual."

— Nestor Makhno,
Anarcho-communist (1888 ‐ 1934)
Anarchist Revolutionary and commander of an independent army in Ukraine

"Did the seed of tyranny ever bear good fruit? And can you expect liberty to undo in a moment what oppression has been doing for ages?"

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"Anarchism... teaches the possibility of a society in which the needs of life may be fully supplied for all, and in which the opportunities for complete development of mind and body shall be the heritage of all."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"You complain, but you want to maintain the system where you vegetate. Occasionally you rebel, but it's only ever just to start doing the same thing again from scratch."

— Albert Libertad,
Anarcho-individualist (1875 ‐ 1908)
Anarchist militant and writer

"Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one."

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"Workers, the most absolutely necessary part of the whole social structure, without whose services none can either eat, or clothe, or shelter himself, are just the ones who get the least to eat, to wear, and to be housed withal."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"It is the system, rather than individuals, that is the source of pollution and degradation."

— Alexander Berkman,
Anarcho-communist (1870 ‐ 1936)
Anarchist, political activist, writer

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Do not preach the straight and narrow way while going joyously upon the wide one. Preach the wide one, or do not preach at all; but do not fool yourself by saying you would like to help usher in a free society, but you cannot sacrifice an armchair for it."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"Power has become invincible, and rests no longer on the higher national foundations of anointed right, election, or representation, but on violence alone."

— Leo Tolstoy,
anarcho-pacifist (1828 ‐ 1910)
Russian author, pacifist and social anarchist

"Libertarians make a dogma of liberty; anarchists make it an end."

— Albert Libertad,
Anarcho-individualist (1875 ‐ 1908)
Anarchist militant and writer

"There are periods in the life of human society when revolution becomes an imperative necessity, when it proclaims itself as inevitable."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"There are periods in the life of human society when revolution becomes an imperative necessity, when it proclaims itself as inevitable."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"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."

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"I am absolutely convinced that only a small minority, a very small minority, among men, are seriously reached and profoundly moved by our propaganda of criticism, of doubt, of rebellion, of free investigation, of independent research. On the other hand, it is clear that our first interest lies always in seeking to increase this minority; to keep it, under all circumstances alive, active, refreshed. Our own happiness depends on it."

— Emile Armand,
Anarcho-Individualist (1872 ‐ 1962)
French individualist anarchist and prolific writer

"Let every dirty, lousy tramp arm himself with a revolver or a knife, and lay in wait on the steps of the palaces of the rich and stab or shoot the owners as they come out. Let us kill them without mercy, and let it be a war of extermination."

— Lucy Parsons,
Anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1942)
Influential American labor organizer and radical socialist

"All my political ideas boil down to this formula: political federation or decentralization."

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Mutualist (1809 ‐ 1865)
French anarchist and political philosopher

"We cannot help but believe that were every law, every title deed, every court, and every police officer or soldier abolished tomorrow with one sweep, we would be better off than now."

— Lucy Parsons,
Anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1942)
Influential American labor organizer and radical socialist

"The growth of technology at the expense of human personality, and especially the fatalistic submission with which the great majority surrender to this condition, is the reason why the desire for freedom is less alive among men today and has with many of them given place completely to a desire for economic security."

— Rudolf Rocker,
anarcho-syndicalist (1873 ‐ 1958)
Influential anarchist writer and speaker

"Terrorism is tempting with its tremendous possibilities. It offers a mechanical solution, as it were, in hopeless situations."

— Alexander Berkman,
Anarcho-communist (1870 ‐ 1936)
Anarchist, political activist, writer

"What do I, a proletarian, care for the tranquility and security of the rich? I care as little for public order as for the proprietor's safety. I ask to live a laborer; otherwise I will die a warrior."

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Mutualist (1809 ‐ 1865)
French anarchist and political philosopher

"The English are always degrading truths into facts. When a truth becomes a fact it loses all its intellectual value."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"Thinking men and women the world over are beginning to realize that patriotism is too narrow and limited a conception to meet the necessities of our time."

— Emma Goldman,
anarcho-feminist (1869 ‐ 1940)
Influential anarchist, political activist, writer.

"I say, if death is the penalty for proclaiming truth, then I will proudly and defiantly pay the costly price! Truth crucified in Socrates, in Christ, in Giordano Bruno, in Huss, Galileo still lives - they and others whose number is legion have preceded us on this path. We are ready to follow!"

— August Spies,
Anarcho-syndicalist (1855 ‐ 1887)
Anarchist and labor activist, accused in Haymarket Riot

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy gift to fall into a man's lap."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"Hanged in Chicago, beheaded in Germany, garroted in Jerez, shot in Barcelona, guillotined in Montbrison and in Paris, our dead are many; but you have not been able to destroy anarchy."

— Emile Henry,
Anarcho-communist, Illegalist (1872 ‐ 1894)
Influential Spanish-born French anarchist bomber

"The influence that theoretical anarchists pretend to wield over the revolutionary movement is nil. Today the field is open to action, without weakness or retreat."

— Emile Henry,
Anarcho-communist, Illegalist (1872 ‐ 1894)
Influential Spanish-born French anarchist bomber

"There are some potentates I would kill by any and all means at my disposal. They are ignorance, superstition, and bigotry - the most sinister and tyrannical rulers on earth."

— Emma Goldman,
anarcho-feminist (1869 ‐ 1940)
Influential anarchist, political activist, writer.

"It is above all over the question of the state that socialists are divided."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"What a strange development of patriotism that turns a thinking being into a loyal machine!"

— Emma Goldman,
anarcho-feminist (1869 ‐ 1940)
Influential anarchist, political activist, writer.

"It is above all over the question of the state that socialists are divided."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Society, from which we have everything, is a new master, a new spook, a new "supreme being," which "takes us into its service and allegiance!""

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"It is the duty of us poor people to work and struggle to break the chains that make us slaves."

— Ricardo Flores Magon,
Anarcho-communist (1874 ‐ 1922)
Mexican anarchist and revolutionary journalist

"Once the individual owns his own tools and his product, capitalism ceases to exist."

— Emile Armand,
Anarcho-Individualist (1872 ‐ 1962)
French individualist anarchist and prolific writer

"If in order to win it were necessary to erect the gallows in the public square, then I would prefer to lose."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"In existing states a fresh law is looked upon as a remedy for evil."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"In existing states a fresh law is looked upon as a remedy for evil."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"I am an anarchist not because I believe anarchism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal."

— Rudolf Rocker,
anarcho-syndicalist (1873 ‐ 1958)
Influential anarchist writer and speaker

"It has come to pass in history that the workers have defeated capitalism, but the victory then slipped from their grasp, because some state power emerged, amalgamating the interests of private capitalism and those of state capitalism for the sake of success over the toilers."

— Nestor Makhno,
Anarcho-communist (1888 ‐ 1934)
Anarchist Revolutionary and commander of an independent army in Ukraine

"Not to speak of war and its crimes, from the guilt of which no civilized state is free, can it be denied that chief among the consequences of the existing social system are murder, maladies, and death."

— Elisee Reclus,
Anarcho-Communist (1830 ‐ 1905)
French geographer, writer and anarchist

"Yes: all men believe and repeat that equality of conditions is identical with equality of rights; that property and robbery are synonymous terms; that every social advantage accorded, or rather usurped, in the name of superior talent or service, is iniquity and extortion. All men in their hearts, I say, bear witness to these truths; they need only to be made to understand it."

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Mutualist (1809 ‐ 1865)
French anarchist and political philosopher

"I am unique. My flesh is not their flesh, my mind is not their mind."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"The individual is quite a world of federations, a whole universe in himself."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The individual is quite a world of federations, a whole universe in himself."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"You should reject every authority, but also commit yourself to a deep respect for all sincere convictions. Live your own life, but also allow others the complete freedom to live theirs."

— Elisee Reclus,
Anarcho-Communist (1830 ‐ 1905)
French geographer, writer and anarchist

"I am not appreciated in this society. I have the right to live, and while your imbecilic criminal society tries to stop me, well too bad for it, too bad for you!"

— Jules Bonnot,
Anarcho-nihilist (1876 ‐ 1912)
French illegalist and bank robber

"[President of the court]: This hand that we today see covered in blood. [Emile]: My hands are covered in blood, like your red robe is!"

— Emile Henry,
Anarcho-communist, Illegalist (1872 ‐ 1894)
Influential Spanish-born French anarchist bomber

"It is only fair to state, with regard to modern journalists, that they always apologize to one in private for what they have written against one in public."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"The divine is God's concern; the human, man's. My concern is neither the divine nor the human, not the true, good, just, free, etc., but solely what is mine."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"Whosoever lays a hand on me in order to govern me is a usurper and a tyrant; I declare him my enemy."

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Mutualist (1809 ‐ 1865)
French anarchist and political philosopher

"All laws are wicked, all judgments are unfair, all judges are wrong, all prisoners are innocent."

— Albert Libertad,
Anarcho-individualist (1875 ‐ 1908)
Anarchist militant and writer

"Now for the remedy. It is in one word, the only word that ever brought equity anywhere - LIBERTY!"

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"The spirit which animates Emma Goldman is the only one which will emancipate the slave from his slavery, the tyrant from his tyranny - the spirit which is willing to dare and suffer."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"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."

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"The work of the anarchist is above all a work of critique. The anarchist goes, sowing revolt against that which oppresses, obstructs, opposes itself to the free expansion of the individual being."

— Emile Armand,
Anarcho-Individualist (1872 ‐ 1962)
French individualist anarchist and prolific writer

"The population of the world is gradually dividing into two classes, anarchists and criminals."

— Benjamin Tucker,
Anarcho-Individualist (1854 ‐ 1939)
Leading theorist of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century

"Our destiny is to reach that state of ideal perfection in which nations will no longer need to be under the tutelage of a government or of another nation; it is the absence of government, it is anarchy, the highest expression of order."

— Elisee Reclus,
Anarcho-Communist (1830 ‐ 1905)
French geographer, writer and anarchist

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"The peoples of the world are becoming profoundly dissatisfied and are not appeased by the promise of the social democrats to patch up the state into a new engine of oppression."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The peoples of the world are becoming profoundly dissatisfied and are not appeased by the promise of the social democrats to patch up the state into a new engine of oppression."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Anarchism is a part of human nature, communism its logical extension."

— Nestor Makhno,
Anarcho-communist (1888 ‐ 1934)
Anarchist Revolutionary and commander of an independent army in Ukraine

"The "government of all the people", if we have to have government, can at best be only the government of the majority."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"Before the sacred, people lose all sense of power and all confidence; they occupy a powerless and humble attitude toward it. And yet no thing is sacred of itself, but by my declaring it sacred, by my declaration, my judgment, my bending the knee; in short, by my conscience."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"The word "state" is identical with the word "war.""

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The word "state" is identical with the word "war.""

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"What is a utopia? A dream unrealized, but not unrealizable."

— Joseph Dejacque,
Anarcho-Communist (1821 ‐ 1864)
French early anarchocommunist, poet and essayist

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Courage, devotion, the spirit of sacrifice, are as contagious as cowardice, submission, and panic."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Courage, devotion, the spirit of sacrifice, are as contagious as cowardice, submission, and panic."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Anarchism, to me, means not only the denial of authority, not only a new economy, but a revision of the principles of morality. It means the development of the individual as well as the assertion of the individual. It means self-responsibility, and not leader worship."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"Crime is naught but misdirected energy."

— Emma Goldman,
anarcho-feminist (1869 ‐ 1940)
Influential anarchist, political activist, writer.

"The Makhnovist movement was founded on the deep feeling of fraternity which characterizes only the most oppressed. During its entire history it did not for an instant appeal to national sentiments."

— Peter Arshinov,
anarcho-communist (1887 ‐ 1937)
Russian anarchist, memoirist, and metalworker

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Once for all, then, we are not opposed to the punishment of thieves and murderers; we are opposed to their manufacture."

— Benjamin Tucker,
Anarcho-Individualist (1854 ‐ 1939)
Leading theorist of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century

"A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men."

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"What I want is the revolution, which will cause poverty to disappear. I hail the revolution, which is inevitable, and I hope that it will come soon to bring liberty and equality to the suffering."

— Louise Michel,
Anarcho-communist, Feminist (1830 ‐ 1905)
French anarchist and feminist revolutionary

"A commercial company enslaved a nation comprising two hundred millions. Tell this to a man free from superstition and he will fail to grasp what these words mean."

— Leo Tolstoy,
anarcho-pacifist (1828 ‐ 1910)
Russian author, pacifist and social anarchist

"Individual appropriation is neither just nor serviceable. All belongs to all."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Individual appropriation is neither just nor serviceable. All belongs to all."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Anarchism is not merely a doctrine that treats of man's social life, in the narrow meaning with which the term is invested in political dictionaries, and sometimes, at meetings, by our propagandist speakers. It is also a teaching that embraces the whole existence of man as a rounded individual."

— Nestor Makhno,
Anarcho-communist (1888 ‐ 1934)
Anarchist Revolutionary and commander of an independent army in Ukraine

"Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it."

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"Private property has crushed true individualism, and set up an individualism that is false. It has debarred one part of the community from being individual by starving them. It has debarred the other part of the community from being individual by putting them on the wrong road and encumbering them."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"Truth, in the matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"Every anarchist, as an anarchist, would be perfectly willing to surrender his own scheme directly, if he saw that another worked better."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Man, according to the diverse conditions in which he moves, is more or less worthy or unworthy. The more he has a sense of his liberty, the more he also has a feeling of his dignity; the more respect he has for himself, and also for his fellows."

— Joseph Dejacque,
Anarcho-Communist (1821 ‐ 1864)
French early anarchocommunist, poet and essayist

"I think it can be clearly proven that the mental constitution of woman, like that of man, has never failed to rise where restrictions upon equal freedom have been torn down."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free."

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"What is freedom? To have the will to be responsible for one's self."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"Children, by nature, are keen, passionate and curious. What was referred to as laziness is often merely an awakening of sensitivity, a psychological inability to submit to certain absurd duties, and a natural result of the distorted, unbalanced education given to them. This laziness, which leads to an insuperable reluctance to learn, is, contrary to appearances, sometimes proof of intellectual superiority and a condemnation of the teacher."

— Octave Mirbeau,
Anarcho-syndicalist, Anarcho-pacifist (1848 ‐ 1917)
French novelist, playwright and anarchist

"Anarchy will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of governmental power and by there being more and more people who will be ashamed of applying this power."

— Leo Tolstoy,
anarcho-pacifist (1828 ‐ 1910)
Russian author, pacifist and social anarchist

"Just as the worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves, and so prevented the horror of the system being realized by those who suffered from it, and understood by those who contemplated it, so, in the present state of things in England, the people who do most harm are the people who try to do most good."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"The greatest danger of bombs is in the explosion of stupidity that they provoke."

— Octave Mirbeau,
Anarcho-syndicalist, Anarcho-pacifist (1848 ‐ 1917)
French novelist, playwright and anarchist

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"Painters: bring back to life, with your talent and your heart, the memory of the great revolts."

— Fernand Pelloutier,
anarcho-syndicalist (1867 ‐ 1901)
French syndicalist and anarchist theorist.

"I think it can be shown that the law makes ten criminals where it restrains one."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law."

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"And as you are invaded and violated, so you subconsciously revenge yourself by invading and violating others over whom you have authority or can exercise compulsion. physical or moral. In this way all life has become a crazy quilt of authority, of domination and submission, of command and obedience, of coercion and subjection, of rulers and ruled, of violence and force in a thousand and one forms."

— Alexander Berkman,
Anarcho-communist (1870 ‐ 1936)
Anarchist, political activist, writer

"The power of the state will never deliver joy, happiness and fulfillment to any society. Such power was created by drones for the sole purpose of pillage and indulgence of their often murderous violence against those who do produce, through their toil - whether through determination, intelligence or brawn - everything useful and good in man's life."

— Nestor Makhno,
Anarcho-communist (1888 ‐ 1934)
Anarchist Revolutionary and commander of an independent army in Ukraine

"It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"Ask a method? Do you ask Spring her method? Which is more necessary, the sunshine or the rain? They are contradictory - yes; they destroy each other - yes, but from this destruction the flowers result."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

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

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"If your object is to secure liberty, you must learn to do without authority and compulsion."

— Alexander Berkman,
Anarcho-communist (1870 ‐ 1936)
Anarchist, political activist, writer

"Majorities, as such, afford no guarantees for justice. They are men of the same nature as minorities. They have the same passions for fame, power, and money, as minorities; and are liable and likely to be equally - perhaps more than equally, because more boldly - rapacious, tyrannical and unprincipled, if intrusted with power. There is no more reason, then, why a man should either sustain, or submit to, the rule of the majority, than of a minority."

— Lysander Spooner,
Anarcho-Individualist (1808 ‐ 1887)
American political philosopher and abolitionist

"What is property? It is robbery!"

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Mutualist (1809 ‐ 1865)
French anarchist and political philosopher

"To weaken authority and criticize its acts is not enough. A negation, in order to be absolute, needs to complete itself with an affirmation. That is why I affirm liberty, why I deduce its consequences."

— Joseph Dejacque,
Anarcho-Communist (1821 ‐ 1864)
French early anarchocommunist, poet and essayist

"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."

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"First, then, God, being all-just, wishes to do justice; being all-wise, knows what justice is; being all-powerful, can do justice. Why then injustice?"

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"Each seeks his way, we seek ours and think the day that freedom and equality reign, mankind will be happy."

— Louise Michel,
Anarcho-communist, Feminist (1830 ‐ 1905)
French anarchist and feminist revolutionary

"What matters most is that people, all men, lose their sheepish instincts and habits that the millennial slavery inspired them, and they learn to think and act freely."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"All the results of the mistakes of governments are quite admirable."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"The proper method for hastening the decay of error is not by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavour to reduce men to intellectual uniformity; but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself."

— William Godwin,
social-anarchist (1756 ‐ 1836)
Prominent philosopher and anarchist

"There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the body. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the soul. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the soul and body alike. The first is called the Prince. The second is called the Pope. The third is called the People."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"The most violent element in society is ignorance."

— Emma Goldman,
anarcho-feminist (1869 ‐ 1940)
Influential anarchist, political activist, writer.

"The worst crime of any type of state is just that it always tries to force the rich diversity of social life into definite forms and adjust it to one particular form, which allows for no wider outlook and regards the previously exciting status as finished."

— Rudolf Rocker,
anarcho-syndicalist (1873 ‐ 1958)
Influential anarchist writer and speaker

"Very young, the virus of justice was inoculated to me and it earned me many a trouble."

— Marius Jacob,
Anarcho-Individualist (1879 ‐ 1954)
French anarchist and prolific burglar

"America is just the country that shows how all the written guarantees in the world for freedom are no protection against tyranny and oppression of the worst kind. There the politician has come to be looked upon as the very scum of society."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"America is just the country that shows how all the written guarantees in the world for freedom are no protection against tyranny and oppression of the worst kind. There the politician has come to be looked upon as the very scum of society."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Anarchism does not depend on theory or programs, which try to grasp man's life in its entirety. It is a teaching, which is based on real life, which outgrows all artificial limitations, which cannot be constricted by any system."

— Nestor Makhno,
Anarcho-communist (1888 ‐ 1934)
Anarchist Revolutionary and commander of an independent army in Ukraine

"People seem good while they are oppressed, but they only wish to become oppressors in their turn: life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim."

— Bertrand Russell,
Philosophical anarchist, Libertarian socialist (1872 ‐ 1970)
Renowned philosopher, mathematician, and anarchist

"The CNT's prisoners will have to thank the politicians for their release, and that to me who am an anarchist, has enormous implications. I would like to walk free thanks to the efforts of my comrades and not due to the philanthropy of someone whom I have to fight tooth and nail as soon as I am out."

— Buenaventura Durruti,
anarcho-syndicalist (1896 ‐ 1936)
Influential Spanish anarchist and militant

"The work of art is to dominate the spectator: the spectator is not to dominate the work of art."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"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."

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"Alone, without any reference to his neighbours, without any interference, the artist can fashion a beautiful thing; and if he does not do it solely for his own pleasure, he is not an artist at all."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"Government means the right to make the law and to impose it on everyone by force: without a police force there is no government."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"No government in the world fights fascism to the death. When the bourgeoisie sees power slipping from its grasp, it has recourse to fascism to maintain itself."

— Buenaventura Durruti,
anarcho-syndicalist (1896 ‐ 1936)
Influential Spanish anarchist and militant

"That government is best which governs not at all; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have."

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"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."

— Mikhail Bakunin,
Collectivist anarchist (1814 ‐ 1876)
Russian revolutionary and anarchist philosopher

"In the pettiest struggle, born of the needs of the moment, there must be mirrored the great goal of social liberation, and each such struggle must help to smooth the way and strengthen the spirit which transforms the inner longing of its bearers into will and deed."

— Rudolf Rocker,
anarcho-syndicalist (1873 ‐ 1958)
Influential anarchist writer and speaker

"The emancipation of woman is nothing else than the emancipation of humanity - both sexes."

— Joseph Dejacque,
Anarcho-Communist (1821 ‐ 1864)
French early anarchocommunist, poet and essayist

"Every state is a despotism."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

"The law has no claim to human respect. It has no civilizing mission; its only purpose is to protect exploitation."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The law has no claim to human respect. It has no civilizing mission; its only purpose is to protect exploitation."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Others invent more or less complicated system of mutuality. But in the long run it is always the searching for a more secure guarantee of freedom which is the common factor among anarchists, and which divides them into different schools."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"I die, as I have lived, a free spirit, an anarchist, owing no allegiance to rulers, heavenly or earthly."

— Voltairine De Cleyre,
Anarcho-Feminist (1866 ‐ 1912)
American anarchist, writer, and feminist

"Do we call this the land of the free? What is it to be free from King George and continue the slaves of King Prejudice?"

— Henry David Thoreau,
Anarcho-individualist (1817 ‐ 1862)
Author, philosopher, naturalist and tax resister

"Governments never lead; they follow progress. When the prison, stake or scaffold can no longer silence the voice of the protesting minority, progress moves on a step, but not until then."

— Lucy Parsons,
Anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1942)
Influential American labor organizer and radical socialist

"All parties without exception, when they seek for power, are varieties of absolutism."

— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon,
Mutualist (1809 ‐ 1865)
French anarchist and political philosopher

"Drawn at first to socialism, I was not slow in separating myself from that party. I have too much love of freedom, too much respect for individual initiative, too much repugnance for military organization, to assume a number in the ordered army of the fourth estate."

— Emile Henry,
Anarcho-communist, Illegalist (1872 ‐ 1894)
Influential Spanish-born French anarchist bomber

"If our fathers, in 1776, had acknowledged the principle that a majority had the right to rule the minority, we should never have become a nation; for they were in a small minority, as compared with those who claimed the right to rule over them."

— Lysander Spooner,
Anarcho-Individualist (1808 ‐ 1887)
American political philosopher and abolitionist

"The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"There is no need to think in terms of destroying everything in the belief that things will look after themselves."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"In our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself."

— Leo Tolstoy,
anarcho-pacifist (1828 ‐ 1910)
Russian author, pacifist and social anarchist

"In Russia, the so-called dictatorship of the proletariat has not led to socialism, but to the domination of a new bureaucracy over the proletariat and the whole people."

— Rudolf Rocker,
anarcho-syndicalist (1873 ‐ 1958)
Influential anarchist writer and speaker

"The Roman Empire was a state in the real sense of the word. To this day it remains the legist's ideal."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The realization of the usefulness of cooperation, which should have led to the triumph of solidarity in all human relations, instead gave rise to private property and government, that is to the exploitation of the labor of the whole community by a privileged minority."

— Errico Malatesta,
anarcho-communist (1853 ‐ 1932)
Influential Italian anarchist theorist

"All things are for all men, since all men have need of them, since all men have worked in the measure of their strength to produce them, and since it is not possible to evaluate every one's part in the production of the world's wealth."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The Roman Empire was a state in the real sense of the word. To this day it remains the legist's ideal."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"All things are for all men, since all men have need of them, since all men have worked in the measure of their strength to produce them, and since it is not possible to evaluate every one's part in the production of the world's wealth."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"In a republic, all are lords, that is, all despotize one over another."

— Max Stirner,
egoist anarchist (1806 ‐ 1856)
Influential philosopher and anarchist

""Know thyself" was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, "Be thyself" shall be written."

— Oscar Wilde,
anarcho-individualist (1854 ‐ 1900)
Irish author and poet known for his wit.

"Those animals which acquire habits of mutual aid are undoubtedly the fittest."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"Those animals which acquire habits of mutual aid are undoubtedly the fittest."

— Peter Kropotkin,
Anarcho-communist (1842 ‐ 1921)
Russian anarchist and philosopher

"The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell."

— Bertrand Russell,
Philosophical anarchist, Libertarian socialist (1872 ‐ 1970)
Renowned philosopher, mathematician, and anarchist

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