The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters
Antonio GramsciRead
Revolutionaries see history as a creation of their own spirit, as being made up of a continuous series of violent tugs at the other forces of society - both active and passive, and they prepare the maximum of favourable conditions for the definitive tug (revolution).
Interpretation
What this quote means
Revolutionaries believe they shape history through their actions, leveraging societal forces to create conditions for revolution.
In this quote, Antonio Gramsci suggests that revolutionaries view history not as a passive occurrence but as a dynamic and active process shaped by their own determination and spirit. They perceive history as a series of struggles where they manipulate both active opposition and passive acceptance in society to create the ideal conditions necessary for a revolutionary change.
Themes
RevolutionHistoryChangeSocietyStruggle
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social movements, one might say, 'As Gramsci noted, revolutionaries see history as a canvas for their spirit.'
More from Antonio Gramsci
All quotes →I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.
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The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born
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To tell the truth is revolutionary.
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Man is above all else mind, consciousness -- that is, he is a product of history, not of nature.
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History is at once freedom and necessity.
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