Errico Malatesta Quotes

In The Anarchist Milieu, Communism, Individualism, Collectivism, Mutualism And All The Intermediate And Eclectic Programmes Are Simply The Ways Considered Best For Achieving Freedom And Solidarity In Economic Life; The Ways Believed To Correspond More Closely With Justice And Freedom For The Distribution Of The Means Of Production And The Products Of Labour Among Men. Bakunin Was An Anarchist, And He Was A Collectivist, An Outspoken Enemy Of Communism Because He Saw In It The Negation Of Freedom And, Therefore, Of Human Dignity.

For Anarchy To Succeed Or Simply To Advance Towards Its Success It Must Be Conceived Not Only As A Lighthouse Which Illuminates And Attracts, But As Something Possible And Attainable, Not In Centuries To Come, But In A Relatively Short Time And Without Relying On Miracles.

Intolerance Of Oppression, The Desire To Be Free And Develop One Personality To Its Full Limits, Is Not Enough To Make One An Anarchist. That Aspiration Towards Unlimited Freedom, If Not Tempered By A Love For Mankind And By The Desire That All Should Enjoy Equal Freedom, May Well Create Rebels Who Soon Become Exploiters And Tyrants.

While Preaching Against Every Kind Of Government, And Demanding Complete Freedom, We Must Support All Struggles For Partial Freedom, Because We Are Convinced That One Learns Through Struggle.

The Person Who Thinks With [their] Own Brain Is To Be Preferred To The One Who Blindly Approves Everything.... Better An Error Consciously Committed And In Good Faith, Than A Good Action Performed In A Servile Manner.

Anarchists Generally Make Use If The Word "state" To Mean All The Collection Of Institutions, Political, Legislative, Judicial, Military, Financial, Etc., By Means Of Which Management Of Their Own Affairs, The Guidance Of Their Personal Conduct, And The Care Of Ensuring Their Own Safety Are Taken From The People And Confided To Certain Individuals, And These, Whether By Usurpation Or Delegation, Are Invested With The Right To Make Laws Over And For All, And To Constrain The Public To Respect Them, Making Use Of The Collective Force Of The Community To This End.

If You Say That You Reject Violence When It Exceeds The Limits Imposed By The Needs Of Defense, They Accuse You Of Pacifism, Without Understanding That Violence Is The Whole Essence Of Authoritarianism, Just As The Repudiation Of Violence Is The Whole Essence Of Anarchism.

The Basic Function Of The Government Everywhere In All Times, Whatever Title It Adopts And Whatever Its Origin And Organisation May Be, Is Always That Of Oppressing And Exploiting The Masses, Of Defending The Oppressors And The Exploiters: And It's Principal, Characteristic And Indispensable Instruments Are The Police Agent And The Tax-collector, The Soldier And The Gaoler - To Whom Must Be Invariably Added The Trader In Lies, Be He Priest Of Schoolmaster, Remunerated Or Protected By The Government To Enslave Minds And Make Them Docilely Accept The Yoke.

Experience Through Freedom Is The Only Means To Arrive At The Truth And The Best Solutions; And There Is No Freedom If There Is Not The Freedom To Be Wrong.

Anarchy Is A Word That Comes From The Greek, And Signifies, Strictly Speaking, "without Government": The State Of A People Without Any Constituted Authority. Before Such An Organization Had Begun To Be Considered Possible And Desirable By A Whole Class Of Thinkers, So As To Be Taken As The Aim Of A Movement (which Has Now Become One Of The Most Important Factors In Modern Social Warfare), The Word "anarchy" Was Used Universally In The Sense Of Disorder And Confusion, And It Is Still Adopted In That Sense By The Ignorant And By Adversaries Interested In Distorting The Truth.

Hate Does Not Produce Love, And By Hate One Cannot Remake The World.

And By Anarchist Spirit I Mean That Deeply Human Sentiment, Which Aims At The Good Of All, Freedom And Justice For All, Solidarity And Love Among The People; Which Is Not An Exclusive Characteristic Only Of Self-declared Anarchists, But Inspires All People Who Have A Generous Heart And An Open Mind.