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Anarchism...stands for direct action, the open defiance of, and resistance to, all laws and restrictions, economic, social, and moral.
Emma Goldman
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Anarchism advocates for immediate and open opposition to all forms of societal restrictions.

Emma Goldman's quote encapsulates the essence of anarchism as a philosophy that encourages individuals to actively challenge and resist imposed laws and societal norms. By promoting direct action and defiance, it emphasizes the importance of personal freedom and the rejection of authoritative control over human lives in various aspects, including economic, social, and moral domains.

Themes

AnarchismDirect ActionResistanceFreedomDefiance

In practice

Example use cases

During a lecture on political ideologies, this quote could illustrate the fundamental beliefs of anarchism.

More from Emma Goldman

On rare occasions one does hear of a miraculous case of a married couple falling in love after marriage, but on close examination it will be found that it is a mere adjustment to the inevitable.
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No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
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To the indefinite, uncertain mind of the American radical the most contradictory ideas and methods are possible. The result is a sad chaos in the radical movement, a sort of intellectual hash, which has neither taste nor character.
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John Burroughs has stated that experimental study of animals in captivity is absolutely useless. Their character, their habits, their appetites undergo a complete transformation when torn from their soil in field and forest. With human nature caged in a narrow space, whipped daily into submission, how can we speak of its potentialities?
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Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are non-existent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only through man's subordination.
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If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus.
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