# Quotes about rebellion - Quotes: 63 - Authors: 47 - Broader topic: [Quotes about freedom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom.md) - Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion - JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.json ## Quotes > As summer neared, my mother suffered yet another stroke of paralysis and again I had to watch her suffer, listen to her groans, powerless to help. I used to lie awake nights and think back to the early days in Arkansas, tracing my mother’s life, reliving events, wondering why she had apparently been singled out for so much suffering, meaningless suffering, and I would feel more awe than I had ever felt in church. My mind could find no answer and I would feel rebellious against all life. But I never felt humble. [Richard Wright](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright.md) · [Black Boy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/as-summer-neared.md) Topics: [suffering](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [mother](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mother.md) > Alone; it was the one active passion I had left now, the only real obsession. I had acquired, I hoped, with the passage of the years, the bad years, a measure of patience, and I thought of myself as being somewhat tight-mouthed, and even persevering, virtues I had always so conspicuously lacked, and I thought the time was at last gone when I had exhausted myself with futile rebellions. The rebellions seemed now, from this cool distance, this slight eminence I had achieved, silly and wasteful, and it was cunning that now struck me as the valuable quality to have, the distinctive characteristic. There had been so much blind impetuosity in the past; there had been so many indiscriminate wounds inflicted; I had lacerated myself as well as others so unhappily so many times. Now I fought, or it seemed to me I was fighting, a much sounder although a much more limited and more circumspect war: it consisted mostly of careful withdrawals, of very conscious retreats. [Alfred Hayes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alfred-hayes.md) · [My Face for the World to See](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alfred-hayes/my-face-for-the-world-to-see.md) · p. 12 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alfred-hayes/my-face-for-the-world-to-see/alone-it-was.md) Topics: [loneliness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness.md), [patience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/patience.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Some things are more important than following the rules. > > Aren’t they? [Django Wexler](https://www.leafyquotes.com/django-wexler.md) · [The Forbidden Library](https://www.leafyquotes.com/django-wexler/the-forbidden-library.md) · p. 71 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/django-wexler/the-forbidden-library/some-things-are.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [obedience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/obedience.md) > To scandalize has always been the pride of rebels, but much of it may satisfy itself in provocativeness of doctrine rather than deeds. Yet we must not underrate the extremes to which revolutionary defiance and the vertigo of freedom could go in the value-vacuum created by the spiritual crisis. The very discovery of a new vista, invalidating all former norms constituted an anarchical condition, and excess in thought and life was the first response to the import and dimensions of that vista. [Hans Jonas](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hans-jonas.md) · [The Gnostic Religion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hans-jonas/the-gnostic-religion.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hans-jonas/the-gnostic-religion/to-scandalize-has.md) Topics: [freedom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Resistance is first of all a matter of principle and a way to live, to make yourself one small republic of unconquered spirit. You hope for results, but you don't depend on them. ("When We Lost" in 2016 edition) [Rebecca Solnit](https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit.md) · [Hope In The Dark](https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark/resistance-is-first.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine act of insurrection. ("False Hope and Easy Despair" in 2016 edition) [Rebecca Solnit](https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit.md) · [Hope In The Dark](https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark/when-you-face.md) Topics: [joy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > In history obedience rarely pays; what pays is defiance. [Roberto Mangabeira Unger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/roberto-mangabeira-unger.md) · [The Left Alternative](https://www.leafyquotes.com/roberto-mangabeira-unger/the-left-alternative.md) · p. 8 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/roberto-mangabeira-unger/the-left-alternative/in-history-obedience.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [obedience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/obedience.md) > In a society where the roles everyone plays are obvious, the refusal to conform to any standard will excite interest. Be both masculine and feminine, impudent and charming, subtle and outrageous. Let other people worry about being socially acceptable; those types are a dime a dozen, and you are after a power greater than they can imagine. [Robert Greene](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene.md) · [The Art of Seduction](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene/the-art-of-seduction.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene/the-art-of-seduction/in-a-society.md) Topics: [conformity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > At certain points in history it may be fashionable to be different and rebellious, but if a lot of people are playing that role, there is nothing different or rebellious about it. [Robert Greene](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene.md) · [The Art of Seduction](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene/the-art-of-seduction.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-greene/the-art-of-seduction/at-certain-points.md) Topics: [conformity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > I am rebelling against imprisonment, I am rebelling against tyranny of the mind, I am rebelling against a collection of machines with interchangeable faces. Above all, I am rebelling against my own ignorance and your deliberate deception. [Edmund Cooper](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-cooper.md) · [The Overman Culture](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-cooper/the-overman-culture.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-cooper/the-overman-culture/i-am-rebelling.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > In the early eighties, savvy Japanese had been scouring Melrose for old leather jackets and jukeboxes, and nervous tourists would drive by to look at the punks with green mohawks; now the funny hairstyles looked as if they’d been done at the Beverly Center. Like a government-subsidized avant-garde, Sullivan had thought as he’d tooled his old van down the crowded avenue, affluent disenfranchisement is just galvanic twitching in a dead frog’s leg. [Tim Powers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers.md) · [Expiration Date](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers/expiration-date.md) · p. 100 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tim-powers/expiration-date/in-the-early.md) Topics: [wealth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > If a rebellion is small and just starting, it looks crazy; but if it begins to succeed, lasts, and builds up momentum, it inevitably legitimizes itself. [Mark Ames](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-ames.md) · [Going Postal](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-ames/going-postal.md) · p. 65 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-ames/going-postal/if-a-rebellion.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > If you want creative and successful children, resign yourself to jousting with rebels. [Jack Mcdevitt](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt.md) · [Cauldron](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/cauldron.md) · p. 96 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/cauldron/if-you-want.md) Topics: [children](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > In the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine, Richard of the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the Second, whose paternal heart he had done so much to break. He had been, as we have seen, a rebel from his boyhood; but, the moment he became a king against whom others might rebel, he found out that rebellion was a great wickedness. In the heat of this pious discovery, he punished all the leading people who had befriended him against his father. He could scarcely have done anything that would have been a better instance of his real nature, or a better warning to fawners and parasites not to trust in lion-hearted princes. [Charles Dickens](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens.md) · [A Child's History of England](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-childs-history-of-england.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-childs-history-of-england/in-the-year.md) Topics: [power](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power.md), [hypocrisy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Respect authority while questioning it. [Randy Pausch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch.md) · [The Last Lecture](https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/randy-pausch/the-last-lecture/respect-authority-while.md) Topics: [power](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > “The old guard believe in that code because they came to it the hard way. They raise their children to believe in that code — but their children believe it for entirely different reasons." > > "They believe it," the Constable said, "because they have been indoctrinated to believe it." > > "Yes. Some of them never challenge it — they grow up to be small-minded people, who can tell you what they believe, but not why they believe it. Others become disillusioned by the hypocrisy of the society and rebel." > > "Which path do you intend to take, Nell? Conformity or rebellion?" > > "Neither one. Both ways are simple-minded — they are only for people who cannot cope with contradiction and ambiguity." [Neal Stephenson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson.md) · [The Diamond Age](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age/the-old-guard.md) Topics: [conformity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity.md), [upbringing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/upbringing.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life. [Azar Nafisi](https://www.leafyquotes.com/azar-nafisi.md) · [Reading Lolita in Tehran](https://www.leafyquotes.com/azar-nafisi/reading-lolita-in-tehran.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/azar-nafisi/reading-lolita-in-tehran/every-great-work.md) Topics: [art](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Dissent, is like a Gurkha’s ‘khukri’ , once it emerges form its sheath it must draw blood before it can be put away again. [Shashi Tharoor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/shashi-tharoor.md) · [The Great Indian Novel](https://www.leafyquotes.com/shashi-tharoor/the-great-indian-novel.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/shashi-tharoor/the-great-indian-novel/dissent-is-like.md) Topics: [criticism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/criticism.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > I had new thoughts, willful thoughts, or rather thoughts filled with lots of won'ts. I won't let her change me, I promised myself. I won't be what I'm not. [Amy Tan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-tan.md) · [The Joy Luck Club](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-tan/the-joy-luck-club.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-tan/the-joy-luck-club/i-had-new.md) Topics: [identity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > This makeover would make piercings and tattoos and brandings look so lame, all those little fashion revolts so safe that they themselves only became fashionable. Those little paper tiger attempts to reject looking good that only end up reinforcing it. [Chuck Palahniuk](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk.md) · [Invisible Monsters](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/invisible-monsters.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/invisible-monsters/this-makeover-would.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [fashion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fashion.md) > Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins—or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom—Lucifer. [Saul Alinsky](https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky.md) · [Rules for Radicals](https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky/rules-for-radicals.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky/rules-for-radicals/lest-we-forget.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature. [Tom Robbins](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins.md) · [Still Life with Woodpecker](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/still-life-with-woodpecker.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/still-life-with-woodpecker/humanity-has-advanced.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [technological progress](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technological-progress.md), [play](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/play.md) > Gabriel Syme was not merely a detective who pretended to be a poet; he was really a poet who had become a detective. Nor was his hatred of anarchy hypocritical. He was one of those who are driven early in life into too conservative an attitude by the bewildering folly of most revolutionists. He had not attained it by any tame tradition. His respectability was spontaneous and sudden, a rebellion against rebellion. [G. Chesterton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton.md) · [The Man Who Was Thursday](https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/the-man-who-was-thursday.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/the-man-who-was-thursday/gabriel-syme-was.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > You should write about take no-shit women like me. Girls need to know they can break the rules [Gloria Steinem](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem.md) · [My Life on the Road](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem/my-life-on-the-road.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gloria-steinem/my-life-on-the-road/you-should-write.md) Topics: [women](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [feminism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/feminism.md) > I simply state that I'm a product of a versatile mind in a restless generation — with every reason to throw my mind and pen in with the radicals. Even if, deep in my heart, I thought we were all blind atoms in a world as limited as a stroke of a pendulum, I and my sort would struggle against tradition; try, at least, to displace old cants with new ones. I've thought I was right about life at various times, but faith is difficult. One thing I know. If living isn't seeking for the grail it may be a damned amusing game. [F.Scott Fitzgerald](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fscott-fitzgerald.md) · [This Side of Paradise](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fscott-fitzgerald/this-side-of-paradise.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fscott-fitzgerald/this-side-of-paradise/i-simply-state.md) Topics: [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md), [tradition](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/tradition.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > In the most advanced areas of this civilization, the social controls have been introjected to the point where even individual protest is affected at its roots. The intellectual and emotional refusal “to go along” appears neurotic and impotent. This is the socio-psychological aspect of the political event that marks the contemporary period: the passing of the historical forces which, at the preceding stage of industrial society, seemed to represent the possibility of new forms of existence. But the term “introjection” perhaps no longer describes the way in which the individual by himself reproduces and perpetuates the external controls exercised by his society. Introjection suggests a variety of relatively spontaneous processes by which a Self (Ego) transposes the “outer” into the “inner.” Thus introjection implies the existence of an inner dimension distinguished from and even antagonistic to the external exigencies—an individual consciousness and an individual unconscious apart from public opinion and behavior. The idea of “inner freedom” here has its reality: it designates the private space in which man may become and remain “himself.” Today this private space has been invaded and whittled down by technological reality. Mass production and mass distribution claim the entire individual, and industrial psychology has long since ceased to be confined to the factory. The manifold processes of introjection seem to be ossified in almost mechanical reactions. The result is, not adjustment but mimesis: an immediate identification of the individual with his society and, through it, with the society as a whole. This immediate, automatic identification (which may have been characteristic of primitive forms of association) reappears in high industrial civilization; its new “immediacy,” however, is the product of a sophisticated, scientific management and organization. In this process, the “inner” dimension of the mind in which opposition to the status quo can take root is whittled down. The loss of this dimension, in which the power of negative thinking—the critical power of Reason—is at home, is the ideological counterpart to the very material process in which advanced industrial society silences and reconciles the opposition. The impact of progress turns Reason into submission to the facts of life, and to the dynamic capability of producing more and bigger facts of the same sort of life. The efficiency of the system blunts the individuals' recognition that it contains no facts which do not communicate the repressive power of the whole. If the individuals find themselves in the things which shape their life, they do so, not by giving, but by accepting the law of things—not the law of physics but the law of their society. [Herbert Marcuse](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse.md) · [One-Dimensional Man](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man.md) · p. 9 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man/in-the-most.md) Topics: [conformity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > No matter how close and familiar the temple or cathedral were to the people who lived around them, they remained in terrifying or elevating contrast to the daily life of the slave, the peasant, and the artisan—and perhaps even to that of their masters. Whether ritualized or not, art contains the rationality of negation. In its advanced positions, it is the Great Refusal—the protest against that which is. The modes in which man and things are made to appear, to sing and sound and speak, are modes of refuting, breaking, and recreating their factual existence. But these modes of negation pay tribute to the antagonistic society to which they are linked. Separated from the sphere of labor where society reproduces itself and its misery, the world of art which they create remains, with all its truth, a privilege and an illusion. In this form it continues, in spite of all democratization and popularization, through the nineteenth and into the twentieth century. The “high culture” in which this alienation is celebrated has its own rites and its own style. The salon, the concert, opera. theater are designed to create and invoke another dimension of reality. Their attendance requires festive-like preparation; they cut off and transcend everyday experience. Now this essential gap between the arts and the order of the day, kept open in the artistic alienation, is progressively closed by the advancing technological society. And with its closing, the Great Refusal is in turn refused; the “other dimension” is absorbed into the prevailing state of affairs. The works of alienation are themselves incorporated into this society and circulate as part and parcel of the equipment which adorns and psychoanalyzes the prevailing state of affairs. [Herbert Marcuse](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse.md) · [One-Dimensional Man](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man.md) · p. 63 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man/no-matter-how.md) Topics: [art](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > [Art] can speak its own language only as long as the images are alive which refuse and refute the established order. [Herbert Marcuse](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse.md) · [One-Dimensional Man](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man.md) · p. 62 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man/art-can-speak.md) Topics: [art](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Outside the academic establishment, the “far-reaching change in all our habits of thought” is more serious. It serves to coordinate ideas and goals with those exacted by the prevailing system, to enclose them in the system, and to repel those which are irreconcilable with the system. The reign of such a one-dimensional reality does not mean that materialism rules, and that the spiritual, metaphysical, and bohemian occupations are petering out. On the contrary, there is a great deal of “Worship together this week,” “Why not try God,” Zen, existentialism, and beat ways of life, etc. But such modes of protest and transcendence are no longer contradictory to the status quo and no longer negative. They are rather the ceremonial part of practical behaviorism, its harmless negation, and are quickly digested by the status quo as part of its healthy diet. [Herbert Marcuse](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse.md) · [One-Dimensional Man](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man.md) · p. 13 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/one-dimensional-man/outside-the-academic.md) Topics: [conformity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Either one defines “personality” and “individuality” in terms of their possibilities within the established form of civilization, in which case their realization is for the vast majority tantamount to successful adjustment. Or one defines them in terms of their transcending content, including their socially denied potentialities beyond (and beneath) their actual existence; in this case, their realization would imply transgression, beyond the established form of civilization, to radically new modes of “personality” and “individuality” incompatible with the prevailing ones. Today, this would mean “curing” the patient to become a rebel or (which is saying the same thing) a martyr. [Herbert Marcuse](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse.md) · [Eros and Civilization](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/eros-and-civilization.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/herbert-marcuse/eros-and-civilization/either-one-defines.md) Topics: [civilization](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/civilization.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [individualism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/individualism.md) > If, by being revolutionary, one means rational rebellion against intolerable social conditions, if, by being radical, one means "going to the root of things," the rational will to improve them, then fascism is never revolutionary. True, it may have the aspect of revolutionary emotions. But one would not call that physician revolutionary who proceeds against a disease with violent cursing but the other who quietly, courageously and conscientiously studies and fights the causes of the disease. Fascist rebelliousness always occurs where fear of the truth turns a revolutionary emotion into illusions. [Wilhelm Reich](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich.md) · [The Mass Psychology of Fascism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/if-by-being.md) Topics: [revolution](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/revolution.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > If you are not their slaves, you are rebels. [C L R James](https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-l-r-james.md) · [The Black Jacobins](https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-l-r-james/the-black-jacobins.md) · p. 307 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-l-r-james/the-black-jacobins/if-you-are.md) Topics: [slavery](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/slavery.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Hope lies in fighting back. (conclusion) [Amy Goodman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman.md) · [Static](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman/static.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman/static/hope-lies-in-fighting.md) Topics: [hope](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Those who are scorned today are tomorrow's visionaries. (conclusion) [Amy Goodman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman.md) · [Static](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman/static.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman/static/those-who-are.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Injustice makes the rules, and courage breaks them. [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin.md) · [Tales from Earthsea](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/tales-from-earthsea.md) · p. 201 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/tales-from-earthsea/injustice-makes-the.md) Topics: [courage](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/courage.md), [justice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > To oppose something is to maintain it. > > They say here “all roads lead to Mishnory.” To be sure, if you turn your back on Mishnory and walk away from it, you are still on the Mishnory road. To oppose vulgarity is inevitably to be vulgar. You must go somewhere else; you must have another goal; then you walk a different road. [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin.md) · [The Left Hand of Darkness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-left-hand-of-darkness.md) · p. 151 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-left-hand-of-darkness/to-oppose-something.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [purpose](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/purpose.md) > It was amazing, he thought, how everyone bitched about corporations but no one was willing to risk pissing them off. Hack was disappointed at the level of motivation among this society’s counterculture. [Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Jennifer Government](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/jennifer-government.md) · p. 256 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/jennifer-government/it-was-amazing.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > A revolutionary in every bedroom cannot fail to shake up the status quo. And if it’s your wife who is revolting, you can’t just split to the suburbs. [Shulamith Firestone](https://www.leafyquotes.com/shulamith-firestone.md) · [The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution](https://www.leafyquotes.com/shulamith-firestone/the-dialectic-of-sex-the-case-for-feminist-revolution.md) · p. 38 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/shulamith-firestone/the-dialectic-of-sex-the-case-for-feminist-revolution/a-revolutionary-in-every.md) Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [women](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [feminism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/feminism.md) > Much protest is naive; it expects quick, visible improvement and despairs and gives up when such improvement does not come. Protesters who hold out for longer have perhaps understood that success is not the proper goal. If protest depended on success, there would be little protest of any durability or significance. History simply affords too little evidence that anyone's individual protest is of any use. Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one's own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence. [Wendell Berry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry.md) · [What Are People For?](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/what-are-people-for.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/what-are-people-for/much-protest-is-naive.md) Topics: [hope](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > What we do need to worry about is the possibility that we will be reduced, in the face of the enormities of our time, to silence or to mere protest. [Wendell Berry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry.md) · [What Are People For?](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/what-are-people-for.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/what-are-people-for/what-we-do-need.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed. The great owners ignored the three cries of history. The land fell into fewer hands, the number of dispossessed increased, and every effort of the great owners was directed at repression. [John Steinbeck](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck.md) · [The Grapes of Wrath](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) · p. 249 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath/and-the-great.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [wealth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Men will not always die quietly. [John Maynard Keynes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-maynard-keynes.md) · [The Economic Consequences of the Peace](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-maynard-keynes/the-economic-consequences-of-the-peace.md) · p. 228 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-maynard-keynes/the-economic-consequences-of-the-peace/men-will-not.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not its taste, but its effect, ... [J. William Fulbright](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright.md) · [The Arrogance of Power](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright/the-arrogance-of-power.md) · p. 25 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-william-fulbright/the-arrogance-of-power/in-a-democracy.md) Topics: [democracy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Social scientists … have begun to think that “social animal” means “harmoniously belonging.” They do not like to think that fighting and dissenting are proper social functions, nor that rebelling or initiating fundamental change is a social function. Rather, if something does not run smoothly, they say it has been improperly socialized; there has been a failure in communication. … But perhaps there has not been a failure in communication. Perhaps the social message has been communicated clearly to the young men and is unacceptable. … We must ask the question, “Is the harmonious organization to which the young are inadequately socialized perhaps against human nature, or not worthy of human nature, and therefore there is difficulty in growing up?” [Paul Goodman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman.md) · [Growing Up Absurd](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd.md) · p. 10 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd/social-scientists-have.md) Topics: [conformity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > "Whenever somebody tells me to do something my instinct's always to do the opposite. It's got me into a lot of trouble, but I've had a lot of fun." [John Hoyer Updike](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike.md) · [Rabbit at Rest](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/rabbit-at-rest.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/rabbit-at-rest/whenever-somebody-tells.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw. [Nelson Mandela](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-mandela.md) · [Long Walk to Freedom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-mandela/long-walk-to-freedom.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-mandela/long-walk-to-freedom/when-a-man.md) Topics: [freedom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > You rebel against the tribal and look for the individual, for your own voice as against the stereotypical voice of the tribe or the tribe's stereotype of itself. You have to establish yourself against your predecessor, and doing so can well involve what they like to call self-hatred. I happen to think that — all those protestations notwithstanding — your self hatred was real and a positive force in its very destructiveness. Since to build something new often requires that something else be destroyed, self-hatred is valuable for a young person. What should he or she have instead — self-approval, self-satisfaction, self-praise? It's not so bad to hate the norms that keep a society from moving on, especially when the norms are dictated by fear as much as by anything else and especially when that fear is of the enemy forces of the overwhelming majority. But you seem now to be so strongly motivated by a need for reconciliation with the tribe that you aren't even willing to acknowledge how disapproving of its platitudinous demands you were back then, however ineluctably Jewish you may also have felt. The prodigal son who once upset the tribal balance — and perhaps even invigorated the tribe's health — may well, in his old age, have a sentimental urge to go back home, but isn't this a bit premature in you, aren't you really too young to have it so fully developed? [Philip Roth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-roth.md) · [The Facts](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-roth/the-facts.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-roth/the-facts/you-rebel-against.md) Topics: [identity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity.md), [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > My own long struggle to find my bearings, the disillusionments and disappointments I had experienced, had made me less dogmatic in my demands on people than I had been. They had helped me to understand the hard and lonely life of the rebel who had fought for an unpopular cause. Whatever bitterness I had felt against my old teacher had given way to deep sympathy long before his death. (about Johann Most) [Emma Goldman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emma-goldman.md) · [Living My Life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emma-goldman/living-my-life.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emma-goldman/living-my-life/my-own-long.md) Topics: [loneliness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness.md), [compassion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > The Day the Palestinians become institutionalized, I will no longer be on their side. [Jean Genet](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-genet.md) · [Prisoner of Love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-genet/prisoner-of-love.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-genet/prisoner-of-love/the-day-the.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > The young always have the same problem — how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this problem by defying their elders and copying each other. [Quentin Crisp](https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp.md) · [The Naked Civil Servant](https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant/the-young-always.md) Topics: [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md), [conformity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conformity.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Many [hooligans] discover to their shame that they have scruples; they have roots and, greatest disadvantage of all, they have hope. The fathers superior of the order do not try to influence their children in Satan; they merely shake their heads in sorrow. They know that the apostate must work out his own damnation. [Quentin Crisp](https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp.md) · [The Naked Civil Servant](https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant/many-hooligans-discover.md) Topics: [hope](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > The spirit of Muad'Dib is more than words, more than the letter of the Law that arises from his name. Muad'Dib must always be that inner outrage against the complacently powerful, against the charlatans and the dogmatic fanatics. It is that inner outrage that must have its say because Muad'Dib taught us one thing above all others: that humans can endure only in a fraternity of social justice. [Frank Herbert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert.md) · [Children Of Dune](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune/the-spirit-of-muaddib.md) Topics: [justice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice.md), [fanaticism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fanaticism.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > “‘He should not have been destroyed like that. That was wrong.’ > > “‘It was His will.’ > > “Lucifer stood. ‘Then perhaps His will is unjust. Perhaps the voices in the Darkness speak truly, after all. How can this be right?’ > > “‘It is right. It is His will. I merely performed my function.’ > > “He wiped away the tears with the back of his hand. ‘No,’ he said flatly.” [Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [Smoke and Mirrors](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/smoke-and-mirrors.md) · p. 325 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/smoke-and-mirrors/he-should-not.md) Topics: [god](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god.md), [justice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > I struck the board, and cry'd, No more. > > I will abroad. > > What? shall I ever sigh and pine? > > My lines and life are free; free as the road, > > Loose as the wind, as large as store. > > Shall I be still in suit? > > Have I no harvest but a thorn > > To let me blood, and not restore > > What I have lost with cordial fruit? > > Sure there was wine > > Before my sighs did dry it: there was corn > > Before my tears did drown it; > > Is the year only lost to me? > > Have I no bays to crown it? [George Herbert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert.md) · [The Temple](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple/i-struck-the.md) Topics: [freedom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > But as I rav'd and grew more fierce and wild > > At every word, > > Methought I heard one calling, Child! > > And I reply'd, My Lord. [George Herbert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert.md) · [The Temple](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple/but-as-i-ravd.md) Topics: [god](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > The law was sacred. Yes, but rebellion might be sacred too. It flashed upon her mind that the problem before her was essentially the same as that which had lain before Savonarola—the problem where the sacredness of obedience ended, and where the sacredness of rebellion began. [George Eliot](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot.md) · [Romola](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/romola.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/romola/the-law-was.md) Topics: [law](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [obedience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/obedience.md) > How easy it all was! Only surrender, and everything else followed. It was like swimming against a current that swept you backwards however hard you struggled, and then suddenly deciding to turn round and go with the current instead of opposing it. Nothing had changed except your own attitude: the predestined thing happened in any case. He hardly knew why he had ever rebelled. [George Orwell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell.md) · [Nineteen Eighty-Four](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four/how-easy-it-all.md) Topics: [acceptance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [obedience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/obedience.md) > If you kept the small rules, you could break the big ones. [George Orwell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell.md) · [Nineteen Eighty-Four](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four/if-you-kept.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md), [strategy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/strategy.md) > "You're only a rebel from the waist downwards," he told her. [George Orwell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell.md) · [Nineteen Eighty-Four](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four/youre-only-a-rebel.md) Topics: [sex](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sex.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > The most elementary form of rebellion, paradoxically, expresses an aspiration for order. [Albert Camus](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus.md) · [The Rebel](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel/the-most-elementary.md) Topics: [paradox](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/paradox.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > In every rebellion is to be found the metaphysical demand for unity, the impossibility of capturing it, and the construction of a substitute universe. [Albert Camus](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus.md) · [The Rebel](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel/in-every-rebellion.md) Topics: [philosophy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/philosophy.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > Every rebellion implies some kind of unity. [Albert Camus](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus.md) · [The Rebel](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel/every-rebellion-implies.md) Topics: [community](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/community.md), [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md) > What is a rebel? A man who says no. [Albert Camus](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus.md) · [The Rebel](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel/what-is-a-rebel.md) Topics: [rebellion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rebellion.md)