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The goal of the revolution is to achieve the people's rights, but during the course of the revolution, we must stress military power - and the two are mutually contradictory.
Sun Yat-Sen
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Revolution aims to secure rights for the people, yet requires military strength, creating a conflict between ideals and means.

This quote by Sun Yat-Sen highlights the inherent contradiction in revolutionary movements, where the pursuit of liberating the rights of the populace often necessitates the use of military force. While the ultimate goal is the emancipation of the people, the means employed can undermine the very principles of freedom and justice that the revolution seeks to establish.

Themes

RevolutionRightsMilitaryPowerContradiction

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about the complexities of social movements.

More from Sun Yat-Sen

At Kobe, whither I fled from Hong Kong, I took a step of great importance. I cut off my cue, which had been growing all my life.
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How can human rights be ever developed for the majority of Chinese people? The only way is to organize. To organize workers, peasants, merchants, industrialists, and students at the grassroots level.
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At thirteen, I accompanied my mother to the Hawaiian Islands. There, for the first time, I saw the wonder of a steamship and the vastness of the ocean. From that time on, I was eager to acquire the knowledge of the West and to fathom the mysteries of nature.
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Because of poverty, we must adopt the capitalist means of production to develop our resources to get rich. However, if we ignore the issue of social justice at the beginning of China's industrialization, we will sow the seeds of class warfare in the future.
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