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The American Revolution began with certain latent hopes that it might turn into a genuine break with the State ideal. The Declaration of Independence announced doctrines that were utterly incompatible not only with the century-old conception of the Divine Right of Kings, but also with the Divine Right of the State. … If revolution is justifiable a State may even be criminal sometimes in resisting its own extinction.

— Randolph Bourne The State (1918)

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More quotes by Randolph Bourne

We cannot crusade against war without crusading implicitly against the State.

The State (1918)

War is the health of the State and it is during war that one best understands the nature of that institution.

The State (1918)

Our elders are always optimistic in their views of the present, pessimistic in their views of the future; youth is pessimistic toward the present and gloriously hopeful for the future. And it is this hope which is the lever of progress—one might say, the only lever of progress.

Youth (1912)

Indeed, it is not too much to say that the normal relation of States is war.

The State (1918)

How shall I describe Youth, the time of contradictions and anomalies? The fiercest radicalisms, the most dogged conservatisms, irrepressible gayety, bitter melancholy,—all these moods are equally part of that showery spring-time of life.

Youth (1912)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Randolph Bourne (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.