Have not prisons - which kill all will and force of character in man, which enclose within their walls more vices than are met with on any other spot of the globe - always been universities of crime? Peter Kropotkin More Quotes by Peter Kropotkin More Quotes From Peter Kropotkin The confused mass of rules of conduct called law, which has been bequeathed to us by slavery, serfdom, feudalism, and royalty, has taken the place of those stone monsters, before whom human victims used to be immolated, and whom slavish savages dared not even touch lest they should be slain by the thunderbolts of heaven. Peter Kropotkin confused taken law The future cannot be legislated. All that can be done is to anticipate its most important movements and to clear the path for them. Peter Kropotkin movement important done We take men for what they are worth - and that is why we hate the government of man by man, and that we work with all our might - perhaps not strong enough - to put an end to it. Peter Kropotkin hate strong men You reason like the king, who, being sent across the frontier, called out, 'What will become of my poor subjects without me?' Peter Kropotkin poor kings reason War is the usual condition of Europe. A thirty years' supply of causes of war is always on hand. Peter Kropotkin war hands years He objected, though, to indiscriminate reading. 'One must have some question,' he wrote, 'addressed to the book one is going to read. Peter Kropotkin reading book War is the usual condition of Europe. Peter Kropotkin usual europe war But how do European railways manage without them? How do they continue to convey millions of travellers and mountains of luggage across a continent? If companies owning railways have been able to agree, why should railway workers, who would take possession of railways, not agree likewise? And if the Petersburg-Warsaw Company and that of Paris-Belfort can act in harmony, without giving themselves the luxury of a common commander, why, in the midst of our societies, consisting of groups of free workers, should we need a Government? Peter Kropotkin luxury paris government The State is only one of the forms assumed by society in the course of history. Why then make no distinction between what is permanent and what is accidental? Peter Kropotkin distinction form states America is just the country that how all the written guarantees in the world for freedom are no protection against tyranny and oppression of the worst kind. There the politician has come to be looked upon as the very scum of society. Peter Kropotkin freedom society country world
