As man seeks justice in equality, so society seeks order in anarchy. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon More Quotes by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon More Quotes From Pierre-Joseph Proudhon If one were to ask. . ."What is slavery?" and I should answer in one word, "murder," my meaning would be understood at once. Why, then, to this other question: "What is property?" may I not likewise answer, "theft". . .? Pierre-Joseph Proudhon slavery would-be answers Whoever lays his hand on me to govern me is a usurper and tyrant, and I declare him my enemy. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon tyrants hands enemy Communism is a society where each one works according to his abilities and gets according to his needs. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon ability communism needs The law does not generate justice. The law is nothing but a declaration and application of what is just. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon law doe justice Of my private life I have nothing to say: it does not concern others. I have always had little liking for autobiographies and have no interest in anyone's affairs. History proper and novels hold no attractions for me except insofar as, I can discern there, as within our immortal Revolution, the adventures of the mind. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon mind doe adventure Anarchy, the absence of a master, of a sovereign. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon anarchy sovereign absence The notion of anarchy ...means that once industrial functions have taken over from political functions, then business transactions and exchange alone produce the social order. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon taken order mean Does it seem to you impossible to imagine anything more inextricable than the social contract, when you think of the frightful number of relations that it must regulate -- something like squaring the circle, or finding perpetual motion? That is the reason why, wearied of the struggle, you fall back on absolutism and force. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon struggle fall thinking ANARCHY, or the government of each man by himself or as the English say, self -government. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon anarchy self men Liberty, Not the Daughter but the Mother of Order. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon daughter mother order Property is impossible. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon property impossible We want property, but property restored to its proper limits, that is to say, free distribution of the products of labour, property minus usury! Pierre-Joseph Proudhon usury limits want A common danger tends to concord. Communism is the exploitation of the strong by the weak. In Communism, inequality comes from placing mediocrity on a level with excellence. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon equality excellence strong Justice is a faculty that may be developed. This development is what constitutes the education of the human race. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon development race justice The idea of God is the type and foundation of the principle of authority and absolutism, which it is our task to destroy or at least to subordinate wherever it manifests itself. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon foundation principles ideas The elements of justice are identical with those of algebra. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon algebra elements justice All parties without exception, when they seek for power, are varieties of absolutism. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon absolutism exception party All my economic ideas as developed over twenty-five years can be summed up in the words: agricultural-industrial federation. All my political ideas boil down to a similar formula: political federation or decentralization. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon political years ideas Universal suffrage is counter-revolution. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon universal-suffrage suffrage revolution The faults of which we ask you [God] the remittance, it is you who make us commit them; the traps of which we implore you to deliver us, it is you who has set them for us; and the Satan which surrounds us, this Satan, it is you. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon devil faults sin
