The real radical is that person who has a vision of equality and is willing to do those things that will bring reality closer to that vision. . . — Bayard Rustin
The fourth rule is: "Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules." You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity. — Saul Alinsky
Every valuable human being must be a radical and a rebel, for what he must aim at is to make things better than they are. — Niels Bohr
Organize, agitate, educate, must be our war cry. — Susan B. Anthony
When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
We have to be militants for kindness, subversive for sweetness and radicals for tenderness. — Cornel West
We believe in constitutional action in normal times; we believe in revolutionary action in exceptional times. — James Connolly
It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains. — Assata Shakur
True revolutionaries do not flaunt their radicalism. They cut their hair, put on suits and infiltrate the system from within. — Saul Alinsky
The only rule is that there are no rules. — Del Close
Anarchists prepare for social revolution and use every means - speech, writing, or deed, whichever is more to the point; to accelerate revolutionary development. — Johann Most
The militant not the meek shall inherit the earth! — Mother Jones
Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world. — Dolores Huerta
The most radical thing we can do is connect people to one another. That starts conversations toward a vision for change. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Short Rules For Radicals Quotes
When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right. — Victor Hugo
Rule 1: When all else fails, follow instructions. And Rule 2: Don't be an asshole. — Anne Lamott
Compassion is the radicalism of our time. — Dalai Lama
Play by the rules, but be ferocious. — Phil Knight
Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind. — Douglas MacArthur
Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men. — Douglas Bader
Our objective is complete freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary. — Malcolm X
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. — Alexei Navalny
Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living — Mother Jones
You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and by falling over.
Rules In Radicals Quotes
In the beginning the organizer's first job is to create the issues or problems. — Saul Alinsky
One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other. — Saul Alinsky
It is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be. That means working in the system. — Saul
People tend to make rules for others and exceptions for themselves.
Few things are more commonly misunderstood than the nature and meaning of theocracy. It is commonly assumed to be a dictatorial rule by self-appointed men who claim to rule for God. In reality, theocracy in Biblical law is the closest thing to a radical libertarianism that can be had. — R.J. Rushdoony
The practical revolutionary will understand Goethe's 'conscience is the virtue of observers and not of agents of action'; in action, one does not always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent both with one's individual conscience and the good of mankind. — Saul Alinsky
Change comes from power, and power comes from organization. In order to act, people must get together. — Saul Alinsky
Rule your mind or it will rule you.
Do not let the Obama administration fool you with all their cunning Alinsky methods. And if you don't know what that method is, I implore you to get the book 'Rules for Radicals,' by Saul Alinsky. Mr. Obama is very well trained in these methods. — Jon Voight
In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt. — Saul Alinsky
The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world as it should be. — Saul Alinsky
To say that corrupt means corrupt the ends is to believe in the immaculate conception of ends and principles. — Saul Alinsky
I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees. — Emiliano Zapata
They have the guns and therefore we are for peace and for reformation through the ballot. When we have the guns then it will be through the bullet. — Saul Alinsky
Control healthcare and you control the people — Saul Alinsky
Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.) — Saul Alinsky
We have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. — Michelle Obama
All of us are driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do - that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. — Michelle Obama
If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive. — Saul Alinsky
The very 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
From the moment an organizer enters a community, he lives, dreams, eats, breathes, sleeps only one thing, and that is to build the mass power base of what he calls the army. — Saul Alinsky
The first step in community organization is community disorganization. The disruption of the present organization is the first step toward community organization. Present arrangements must be disorganized if they are to be displace by new patterns.... All change means disorganization of the old and organization of the new. — Saul Alinsky
The job of the organizer is to maneuver and bait the establishment so that it will publicly attack him as a “dangerous enemy. — Saul
Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. — Saul
Okay, you've convinced me. Now go out there and bring pressure on me. — Sayings
Action comes from keeping the heat on. No politician can sit on a hot issue if you make it hot enough. — Saul Alinsky
The thirteenth rule of radical tactics: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. — Saul Alinsky
It is a sad fact of life that power and fear are the fountainheads of faith. — Saul Alinsky
The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. — Saul Alinsky
The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away. — Saul Alinsky
The cry of the Have-Nots has never been "give us our hearts," but always "get off our backs"; they ask not for love but for breathing space. — Saul Alinsky
A good tactic is one that your people enjoy. — Saul Alinsky
The most unethical of all means is the non-use of any means. — Saul Alinsky
The end is what you want and the means is how you get it. — Saul Alinsky
Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage. — Saul Alinsky
Change means movement. Movement means friction. — Saul Alinsky
Spouting quotes from Mao, Castro, and Che Guevara, which are as germane to our highly technological, computerized, cybernetic, nuclearpowered, mass media society as a stagecoach on a jet runway at Kennedy airport. — Saul Alinsky
All effective actions require the passport of morality. — Saul
The history of prevailing status quos shows decay and decadence infecting the opulent materialism of the Haves. The spiritual life of the Haves is a ritualistic justification of their possessions. — Saul
Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose. — Saul Alinsky
A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. — Saul Alinsky
Taking a new step. . .is what people fear most. — Fyodor Dostoevsky
One’s concern with the ethics of means and ends varies inversely with one’s personal interest in the issue. — Saul Alinsky
As an organizer I start from where the world is, as it is, not as I would like it to be. — Saul Alinsky
In Conclusion
Which quotation resonated with you best? Did you enjoy our collection of rules for radicals quotes? Or may be you have a slogan about rules for radicals to suggest. Let us know using our contact form.
Citation
Feel free to cite and use any of the quotes in this collection of rules for radicals quotations. For popular citation styles(APA, Chicago, MLA), please use this citation page.
