The defiance of established authority, religious and secular, social and political, as a world-wide phenomenon may well one day be accounted the outstanding event of the last decade. Hannah Arendt More Quotes by Hannah Arendt More Quotes From Hannah Arendt The essence of totalitarian government, and perhaps the nature of every bureaucracy, is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanize them. And one can debate long and profitably on the rule of Nobody, which is what the political form known as bureau-cracy truly is….we have become very much accustomed by modern psychology and sociology, not to speak of modern bureaucracy, to explaining away the responsibility of the doer for his deed in terms of this or that kind of determinism. Hannah Arendt essence responsibility men In contrast to revenge, which is the natural, automatic reaction to transgression and which, because of the irreversibility of the action process can be expected and even calculated, the act of forgiving can never be predicted; it is the only reaction that acts in an unexpected way and thus retains, though being a reaction, something of the original character of action. Hannah Arendt forgiveness revenge character To be sure, nothing is more important to the integrity of the universities . . . than a rigorously enforced divorce from war-oriented research and all connected enterprises. Hannah Arendt divorce integrity war Luck serves ... as rationalization for every people that is not master of its own destiny. Hannah Arendt destiny luck people Opinions are formed in a process of open discussion and public debate, and where no opportunity for the forming of opinions exists, there may be moods -moods of the masses and moods of individuals, the latter no less fickle and unreliable than the former -but no opinion. Hannah Arendt fickle may opportunity Revolutions are the only political events which confront us directly and inevitably with the problem of beginning. Hannah Arendt revolution events political When an old truth ceases to be applicable, it does not become any truer by being stood on its head. Hannah Arendt cease doe Exasperation with the threefold frustration of action -- the unpredictability of its outcome, the irreversibility of the process, and the anonymity of its authors -- is almost as old as recorded history. It has always been a great temptation, for men of action no less than for men of thought, to find a substitute for action in the hope that the realm of human affairs may escape the haphazardness and moral irresponsibility inherent in a plurality of agents. Hannah Arendt frustration temptation men Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise. Hannah Arendt loyalty mind might These are the fifties, you know. The disgusting, posturing fifties. Hannah Arendt disgusting knows The more dubious and uncertain an instrument violence has become in international relations, the more it has gained in reputation and appeal in domestic affairs, specifically in the matter of revolution. Hannah Arendt dubious violence matter Love, in distinction from friendship, is killed, or rather extinguished, the moment it is displayed in public. Hannah Arendt friendship-love moments friendship Every thought is an afterthought. Hannah Arendt philosophy history art By assigning his political rights to the state the individual also delegates his social responsibilities to it: he asks the state to relieve him of the burden of caring for the poor precisely as he asks for protection against criminals. The difference between pauper and criminal disappears - both stand outside society. Hannah Arendt caring responsibility rights the touchstone of a free act - from the decision to get out of bed in the morning or take a walk in the afternoon to the highest resolutions by which we bind ourselves for the future - is always that we know that we could also have left undone what we actually did. Hannah Arendt freedom decision morning Psychologically speaking, one may say that the hypocrite is too ambitious; not only does he want to appear virtuous before others, he wants to convince himself. Hannah Arendt ambitious hypocrisy hypocrite His [Marx's] most explosive and indeed most original contribution to the cause of revolution was that he interpreted the compelling needs of mass poverty in political terms as an uprising, not for the sake of bread or wealth, but for the sake of freedom as well. Hannah Arendt uprising political needs Under conditions of terror, most people will comply but some people will not. Hannah Arendt conditions terror people The concept of unlimited expansion that alone can fulfill the hope for unlimited accumulation of capital, and brings about the aimless accumulation of power, makes the foundation of new political bodies - which up to the era of imperialism always had been the upshot of conquest - well-nigh impossible. Hannah Arendt expansion foundation political The only grandeur of imperialism lies in the nation's losing battle against it. Hannah Arendt battle losing lying
