78 quotes
The feudal barons of the Middle Ages, the economic predecessors of the capitalists of our day, declared all wars. And their miserable serfs fought all the battles.
The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)
I do not oppose the insane asylum—but I abhor and condemn the cutthroat system that robs man of his reason, drives him to insanity and makes the lunatic asylum an indispensable adjunct to every civilized community.
What's the matter with Chicago? (1902)
They have always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at their command.
The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)
The man who seeks to arouse prejudice among workingmen is not their friend. He who advises the white wage-worker to look down upon the black wage-worker is the enemy of both.
The Negro and His Nemesis (1904)
There is nothing that helps the Socialist Party so much as receiving an occasional deathblow. The oftener it is killed the more active, the more energetic, the more powerful it becomes.
The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)
I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.
I may not be able to say all I think; but I am not going to say anything that I do not think. I would rather a thousand times be a free soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets.
The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)
An organization of intellectuals would not be officered and represented by wages earners; neither should an organization of wage earners be officered by intellectuals.
Sound Socialist Tactics (1912)
Lenin and Trotsky were the men of the hour and under their fearless, incorruptible and uncompromising leadership the Russian proletariat has held the fort against the combined assaults of all ruling class powers of earth. It is a magnificent spectacle . It stirs the blood and warms the heart of every revolutionist, and it challenges the admiration of all the world.
The Day of the People (1918)
The united vote of those who toil and have not will vanquish those who have and toil not, and solve forever the problems of democracy.
The Socialist Party and the Working Class (1904)
They themselves do not cultivate the soil. Nor do they allow others to cultivate it. They keep it idle to enrich themselves, to pocket the millions of dollars of unearned increment.
The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality, but by the higher duty I owe to myself.
The Issue (1908)
The world is daily changing before our eyes. The sun of capitalism is setting; the sun of socialism is rising. It is our duty to build the new nation and the free republic.
The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918)
I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are.
The hand tools of early times are used no more. Mammoth machines have taken their place. A few thousand capitalists own them and many millions of workingmen use them.
The Socialist Party and the Working Class (1904)
Had Ingersoll and Phillips devoted their lives to the practice of law for pay the divine fire within them would have burned to ashes and they would have died in mediocrity.
The Secret of Efficient Expression (1911)
Wherever capitalism appears, in pursuit of its mission of exploitation, there will Socialism, fertilized by misery, watered by tears, and vitalized by agitation be also found, unfurling its class-struggle banner and proclaiming its mission of emancipation.
There is no moral idealism in the cornering of the market and the pursuit of private profit. Great, masterful cartoonists must starve under sordid capitalism-or perforce prostitute their genius, as so many have done, to the base and vulgar ends of the masters of the bread.
Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind then that I was not one bit better than the meanest on Earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; and while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.
Federal Court statement (1918)
The capitalist class is represented by the Republican, Democratic, Populist and Prohibition parties, all of which stand for private ownership of the means of production, and the triumph of any one of which will mean continued wage-slavery to the working class.
The Socialist Party and the Working Class (1904)