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.
Emma GoldmanRead
Every daring attempt to make a great change in existing conditions, every lofty vision of new possibilities for the human race, has been labeled Utopian.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that ambitious efforts to transform society are often dismissed as unrealistic.
Emma Goldman's quote highlights the tendency of society to label radical ideas and ambitious visions for change as 'utopian', implying that they are impractical or overly idealistic. It speaks to the challenges faced by innovators and reformers who seek to improve conditions for humanity, reminding us that every meaningful attempt at progress may encounter skepticism and resistance, yet it is through these daring endeavors that change is possible.
Themes
ChangeUtopiaAmbitionVisionTransformation
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on social reform, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of ambitious visions.
More from Emma Goldman
All quotes βNo 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?
Emma GoldmanRead
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.
Emma GoldmanRead
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.
Emma GoldmanRead
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