Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in this; that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely conceives it, wants it, and loves it.
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Quotes by Mikhail Bakunin
Explore 25 verified and sourced quotes attributed to Mikhail Bakunin. Open any quote for its dedicated page, source details and related topics.
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Selected quotes by Mikhail Bakunin
By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. Those who have cautiously done no more than they believed possible have never taken a single step forward.
To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.
Anyone who makes plans for after the revolution is a reactionary.
From the naturalistic point of view, all men are equal. There are only two exceptions to this rule of naturalistic equality: geniuses and idiots.
Even the most wretched individual of our present society could not exist and develop without the cumulative social efforts of countless generations.
Look at Christ, my dear friend: His life was divine through and through, full of self-denial, and He did everything for mankind, finding His satisfaction and His delight in the dissolution of His material being.
Political Freedom without economic equality is a pretense, a fraud, a lie; and the workers want no lying.
A Boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore If God did exist, he would have to be abolished.
Powerful states can maintain themselves only by crime, little states are virtuous only by weakness.
If there is a State, then there is domination, and in turn, there is slavery.
The communism of Marx seeks a strong state centralization, and where this exists, there the parasitic Jewish nation - which speculates upon the labor of people - will always find the means for its existence.
I am truly free only when all human beings, men and women, are equally free. The freedom of other men, far from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary premise and confirmation.
Everything will pass, and the world will perish but the Ninth Symphony will remain.
Therefore, if God existed, only in one way could he serve human liberty - by ceasing to exist.
The freedom of all is essential to my freedom.
People go to church for the same reasons they go to a tavern: to stupefy themselves, to forget their misery, to imagine themselves, for a few minutes anyway, free and happy.
Where the state begins, individual liberty ceases, and vice versa.
The first revolt is against the supreme tyranny of theology, of the phantom of God. As long as we have a master in heaven, we will be slaves on earth.
Idealism is the despot of thought, just as politics is the despot of will.
I am sure that, on the one hand, the Rothschilds appreciate the merits of Marx, and that on the other hand, Marx feels an instinctive inclination and a great respect for the Rothschilds.
Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the boot-maker.
The privileged man, whether he be privileged politically or economically, is a man depraved in intellect and heart.
To my utter despair I have discovered, and discover every day anew, that there is in the masses no revolutionary idea or hope or passion.
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