Lapham’s Quarterly

All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the state.

Revolutions are always verbose.

The main object of a revolution is the liberation of man, not the interpretation and application of some transcendental ideology.

The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced.

And then, sir, there is this consideration: that if the abuse be enormous, nature will rise up and, claiming her original rights, overturn a corrupt political system.

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made—through disobedience and through rebellion.

Rebellion is no less a sin than divination.

To cast aside obedience, and by popular violence to incite revolt, is treason, not against man only, but against God.

The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed.

In revolutions men fall and rise. Long before this war is over, much as you hear me praised now, you may hear me cursed and insulted.