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
We want to overthrow the imperial power not because it is Manchurian but because we want republicanism... We republican revolutionaries can never have the notion of becoming emperors after the revolution, like all the peasant rebels did in the past.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the desire for a republican government over imperial rule, highlighting the importance of genuine revolutionary intentions.
Sun Yat-Sen's quote reflects the aspirations of revolutionary movements to establish a government based on republicanism rather than simply replacing one form of tyranny with another. It underscores the commitment of true revolutionaries to uphold democratic values and avoid the mistakes of past uprisings, where leaders often became tyrants themselves after the fall of an old regime.
Themes
RevolutionRepublicanismImperialismLeadershipChange
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about democratic values, one might quote this to illustrate the importance of genuine revolution.
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
Similar quotes
Irrespective of todays judgment and the price we had to pay in this generation, we were able to close an epoch of divisions, different blocs and borders, opening the way for an era of globalization.
Lech WalesaRead
Because many advances have happened, we've lost the urgency (and that's just human nature) that we had before, when we couldn't vote, couldn't use mass transportation, or drink from the fountains.
Spike LeeRead
We stand today on the edge of a new frontier - the frontier of the 1960's - a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils - a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats.
John F. KennedyRead
While I may never be in remission from cancer, I am currently in remission from an unhealthy relationship to food.
Kris CarrRead
In the 1970s, girls didn't do anything. It wasn't their fault. For me and the other working-class girls I hung around with, our route was plotted - you were a secretary and a wife. I wanted to hitchhike around the world, go on motorbikes, be in bands.
Viv AlbertineRead
I knew hundreds and hundreds of women like me, who had traveled in and out of prison in a revolving door. They needed support and help just like I had received. And it could make a difference, just like it had made a difference in my life. I wanted to see them come back to the community and have a chance at a different life, too.
Susan BurtonRead