"If there is a devil in human history, that devil is the principle of command. It alone, sustained by the ignorance and stupidity of the masses, without which it could not exist, is the source of all the catastrophes, all the crimes, and all the infamies of history."
React to this quote
More by Mikhail Bakunin
See allResonant Thoughts
"Social reformers and legislators will never be economists, and they will always work on economic theory of one kind or another. They will quote and apply such dicta as they can assimilate, and such a…"
"It was not always so," he said slowly. "When I was a boy—stealing horses was not a crime. It was the way of a brave man, a warrior. Horses then served the purposes of the tribe." He could tell them mo…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Evolution was a paste-and-baling-wire process that came up with half-assed solutions like pushing teeth thr…"
— Daniel Abraham"Schaeffer's Papers at the Presbyterian Church in America Historical Center"
— Francis Schaeffer"How do wealth- and capital-output ratios evolve in the long run, and why? Until recently it was difficult t…"
— Thomas Piketty"The central act of the coming era is to connect everything to everything."
— Kevin Kelly (editor)"To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant."
— John Henry Newman"People were not all fascists on one side and bolshevists on the other. A contemporary writer says” ‘if ther…"
— Kurt Schuschnigg
Related Thinkers
Related Topics
Deep Dives
- Friedrich Nietzsche on history
- Baruch Spinoza on history
- Thomas Carlyle on history
- Immanuel Kant on history
- Friedrich Nietzsche on life
- Friedrich Nietzsche on truth
- Friedrich Nietzsche on philosophy
- Friedrich Nietzsche on time
- Friedrich Nietzsche on knowledge
- Friedrich Nietzsche on justice
- knowledge & Beauty
- knowledge & Change