"Witness the tragic condition of Russia. The methods of State centralization have paralysed individual initiative and effort; the tyranny of the dictatorship has cowed the people into slavish submission and all but extinguished the fires of liberty; organized terrorism has depraved and brutalized the masses and stifled every idealistic aspiration; institutionalized murder has cheapened human life, and all sense of the dignity of man and the value of life has been eliminated; coercion at every step has made effort bitter, labour a punishment, has turned the whole of existence into a scheme of mutual deceit, and has revived the lowest and most brutal instincts of man. A sorry heritage to begin a new life of freedom and brotherhood."
React to this quote
More by Emma Goldman
See allResonant Thoughts
"You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress of humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better trea…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Thaddeus Stevens: Champion of Freedom"
— Thaddeus Stevens"Why not? Everything you've got to own costs money. Everything you do costs money. You can't take your wife …"
— Floyd Mayweather Jr."Why? Because the fascist states realize before our very eyes, among Aryans, without gold, without Jews, wit…"
— Louis-Ferdinand Céline"As you live out your desolation, you can be either unhappy or happy. Having that choice is what constitutes…"
— Milan Kundera"When a mechanic wants to fix a broken-down car engine, he must have the necessary tools to do the job. When…"
— Huey P. Newton"There is no need to adopt more “free trade agreements”, which are asymmetrical agreements providing privile…"
— Alfred-Maurice de Zayas