Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble; a rabble is created only when there is joined to poverty a disposition of mind, an inner indignation against the rich, against society, against the government.
Interpretation
Poverty alone does not lead to chaos; it is the mindset of resentment and anger towards others that creates unrest.
In this quote, Hegel emphasizes that poverty, while a difficult circumstance, does not inherently lead to social disorder or a 'rabble'. Instead, it is the negative mindset, characterized by anger and indignation towards the affluent and societal structures, that fosters a collective unrest. By distinguishing between the condition of poverty and the psychological response to it, Hegel underscores the importance of attitude in shaping social dynamics.
In practice
In a discussion about social justice, one might quote Hegel to emphasize that mindset can influence social unrest.
The true courage of civilized nations is readiness for sacrifice in the service of the state, so that the individual counts as only one amongst many. The important thing here is not personal mettle but aligning oneself with the universal.
The East knew and to the present day knows only that One is Free; the Greek and the Roman world, that some are free; the German World knows that All are free. The first political form therefore which we observe in History, is Despotism, the second Democracy and Aristocracy, the third, Monarchy.
Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.
Every idea, extended into infinity, becomes its own opposite.
If we go on to cast a look at the fate of these World-Historical persons, whose vocation it was to be the agents of the World-Spirit, we shall find it to have been no happy one. They attained no calm enjoyment; their whole life was labour and trouble; their whole nature was nought else but their master—passion. When their object is attained they fall off like empty hulls from the kernel. They die early, like Alexander; they are murdered, like Caesar.
When individuals and nations have once got in their heads the abstract concept of full-blown liberty, there is nothing like it in its uncontrollable strength.
To take wine into your mouth is to savor a droplet of the river of human history.
I had studied Irish history. I had read speeches from the dock. I had tried to fuse the vivid past of my nation with the lost spaces of my childhood. I had learned the battles, the ballads, the defeats. It never occurred to me that eventually the power and insistence of a national tradition would offer me only a new way of not belonging.
There are some things about myself I can’t explain to anyone. There are some things I don’t understand at all. I can’t tell what I think about things or what I’m after. I don’t know what my strengths are or what I’m supposed to do about them. But if I start thinking about these things in too much detail the whole thing gets scary. And if I get scared I can only think about myself. I become really self-centered, and without meaning to, I hurt people. So I’m not such a wonderful human being.
Prejudice is a raft onto which the shipwrecked mind clambers and paddles to safety.
A thief is a man in need. A liar is a man in fear.
There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.
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