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.
Sun Yat-SenRead
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.
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
All quotes →After the Manchu government had carried on wars with foreign nations and had been defeated, China was forced to sign many unequal treaties. Foreign nations are still using these treaties to bind China, and as a result, China fails at whatever she attempts.
Sun Yat-SenRead
What problem does Pan-Asianism attempt to solve? The problem is how to terminate the sufferings of the Asiatic peoples and how to resist the aggression of the powerful European countries. In a word, Pan-Asianism represents the cause of the oppressed Asiatic peoples.
Sun Yat-SenRead
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.
Sun Yat-SenRead
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.
Sun Yat-SenRead
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.
Sun Yat-SenRead
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