to-read
(216)
currently-reading (1)
read (48)
adult (140)
lgbt (70)
ya (60)
nonfiction (53)
historical (36)
currently-reading (1)
read (48)
adult (140)
lgbt (70)
ya (60)
nonfiction (53)
historical (36)
fantasy
(27)
poetry (26)
classics (23)
audiobook (22)
memoir (20)
scifi (19)
essays (18)
coming-of-age (17)
poetry (26)
classics (23)
audiobook (22)
memoir (20)
scifi (19)
essays (18)
coming-of-age (17)
“Anarchism is not a romantic fable but the hardheaded realization, based on five thousand years of experience, that we cannot entrust the management of our lives to kings, priests, politicians, generals, and county commissioners.”
―
―
“Direct action meant that the goal of any and all of these activities was to provide ways for people to get in touch with their own powers and capacities, to take back the power of naming themselves and their lives. It was to be distinguished from more conventional political activity even in a democratic system. Instead of attempting to make change by forming interest groups to pressure politicians, anarchists insisted that we learn to think and act for ourselves by joining together in organizations in which our experience, our perception, and our activity can guide and make the change. Knowledge does not precede experience, it flows from it: "We begin by deciding to work, and through working, we learn ... We will learn how to live in libertarian communism by living in it." People learn how to be free only by exercising freedom: "We are not going to find ourselves ... with people ready-made for the future ... Without the continued exercise of their faculties, there will be no free people ... The external revolution and the internal revolution presuppose one another, and they must be simultaneous in order to be successful.”
― Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women
― Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women
“We have nothing but our freedom. We have nothing to give you but your own freedom. We have no law but the single principle of mutual aid between individuals. We have no government but the single principle of free association. We have no states, no nations, no presidents, no premiers, no chiefs, no generals, no bosses, no bankers, no landlords, no wages, no charity, no police, no soldiers, no wars. Nor do we have much else. We are sharers, not owners. We are not prosperous. None of us is rich. None of us is powerful. If it is Anarres you want, if it is the future you seek, then I tell you that you must come to it with empty hands. You must come to it alone, and naked, as the child comes into the world, into his future, without any past, without any property, wholly dependent on other people for his life. You cannot take what you have not given, and you must give yourself. You cannot buy the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution. You can only be the Revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.”
― The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
― The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
“Could you visit me in dreams? That would cheer me.
Sweet to see friends in the night, however short the time.”
― Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides
Sweet to see friends in the night, however short the time.”
― Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides
“Change is freedom, change is life.
It's always easier not to think for oneself. Find a nice safe hierarchy and settle in. Don't make changes, don't risk disapproval, don't upset your syndics. It's always easiest to let yourself be governed.
There's a point, around age twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities.
Those who build walls are their own prisoners. I'm going to go fulfil my proper function in the social organism. I'm going to go unbuild walls.”
― The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
It's always easier not to think for oneself. Find a nice safe hierarchy and settle in. Don't make changes, don't risk disapproval, don't upset your syndics. It's always easiest to let yourself be governed.
There's a point, around age twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities.
Those who build walls are their own prisoners. I'm going to go fulfil my proper function in the social organism. I'm going to go unbuild walls.”
― The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
amal!!!’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at amal!!!’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by amal!!!
Lists liked by amal!!!




















