I am truly free only when all human beings, men and women, are equally free. The freedom of other men, far from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary premise and confirmation.
Mikhail BakuninRead
The urge for destruction is also a creative urge!
Interpretation
What this quote means
Destruction can lead to the creation of new ideas and forms.
Mikhail Bakunin's quote suggests that the desire to destroy can be a powerful driving force for creativity. It implies that through the act of dismantling existing structures or ideas, new possibilities can emerge, highlighting the paradox that destruction does not only lead to loss but also to innovation and regeneration.
Themes
DestructionCreationInnovationPhilosophyTransformation
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about the role of revolution in societal change.
More from Mikhail Bakunin
All quotes →We must overthrow the material and moral conditions of our present-day life. . . . We must first purify our atmosphere and completely transform the milieu in which we live; for it corrupts our instinct and our will, and constricts our heart and our intelligence
Mikhail BakuninRead
The liberty of man consists solely in this, that he obeys the laws of nature because he has himself recognized them as such, and not because they have been imposed upon him externally by any foreign will whatsoever, human or divine, collective or individual.
Mikhail BakuninRead
By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. Those who have cautiously done no more than they believed possible have never taken a single step forward.
Mikhail BakuninRead
By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible.
Mikhail BakuninRead
This contradiction lies here: they wish God, and they wish humanity. They persist in connecting two terms which, once separated, can come together again only to destroy each other.
Mikhail BakuninRead
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