15+ Errico Malatesta Quotes On Education, Art

Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarchist, writer and political activist. He was a major figure in the anarchist movement in Italy and internationally, and was a close friend of Mikhail Bakunin. He advocated workers' self-management, direct action and revolution as a means of social change, and was a strong critic of both capitalism and the state. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Errico Malatesta on education, love, life.

We anarchists do not want to emancipate the people; we want the people to emancipate themselves. — Errico Malatesta

The only limit to the oppression of government is the power with which the people show themselves capable of opposing it. — Errico Malatesta

And by anarchist spirit I mean that deeply human sentiment, which aims at the good of all, freedom and justice for all, solidarity and love among the people; which is not an exclusive characteristic only of self-declared anarchists, but inspires all people who have a generous heart and an open mind. — Errico Malatesta

If you say that you reject violence when it exceeds the limits imposed by the needs of defense, they accuse you of pacifism, without understanding that violence is the whole essence of authoritarianism, just as the repudiation of violence is the whole essence of anarchism. — Errico Malatesta

The person who thinks with [their] own brain is to be preferred to the one who blindly approves everything.... Better an error consciously committed and in good faith, than a good action performed in a servile manner. — Errico Malatesta

While preaching against every kind of government, and demanding complete freedom, we must support all struggles for partial freedom, because we are convinced that one learns through struggle. — Errico Malatesta

For anarchy to succeed or simply to advance towards its success it must be conceived not only as a lighthouse which illuminates and attracts, but as something possible and attainable, not in centuries to come, but in a relatively short time and without relying on miracles. — Errico Malatesta

Hate does not produce love, and by hate one cannot remake the world. — Errico Malatesta

Not whether we accomplish anarchism today, tomorrow, or within ten centuries, but that we walk towards anarchism today, tomorrow, and always. — Errico Malatesta

We follow ideas and not men, and rebel against this habit of embodying a principle in a man. — Errico Malatesta

Organisation, far from creating authority, is the only cure for it and the only means whereby each of us will get used to taking an active and conscious part in collective work, and cease being passive instruments in the hands of leaders. — Errico Malatesta

Experience through freedom is the only means to arrive at the truth and the best solutions; and there is no freedom if there is not the freedom to be wrong. — Errico Malatesta

The question may seem embarrassing, but it can be answered in a few words. For two people to live in peace they must both want peace; if one of them insists on using force to oblige the other to work for him and serve him, then the other, if he wishes to retain his dignity as a man and not be reduced to abject slavery, will be obliged in spite of his love of peace, to resist force with adequate means. — Errico Malatesta

Impossibility never prevented anything from happening. — Errico Malatesta

Intolerance of oppression, the desire to be free and develop one personality to its full limits, is not enough to make one an anarchist. That aspiration towards unlimited freedom, if not tempered by a love for mankind and by the desire that all should enjoy equal freedom, may well create rebels who soon become exploiters and tyrants. — Errico Malatesta

Life Lessons by Errico Malatesta

1. Errico Malatesta taught that the only way to achieve a just society is through direct action and solidarity among the working class.
2. He believed that the only way to bring about meaningful change was to challenge the existing power structures and to organize people to fight for their rights.
3. He also argued that education and organization are essential for any revolution to be successful.