Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > History
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 05-16-2019, 09:11 AM
 
1,551 posts, read 2,421,226 times
Reputation: 1337

Advertisements

There was once a famous man who said “revolutions don’t start when the people are too comfortable” or something along those lines.

I think it was Benjamin Franklin. I believe it was an American who said it.

I’m trying to find the exact quote and who actually said this. It’s so mind boggling now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-16-2019, 12:55 PM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,660,872 times
Reputation: 13501
It's a bit of a trope and may have several sources, some of which may even be valid. I vaguely remember the notion being attributed to Marx as well as one of those indistinguishable Foundin' Faddah types.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2019, 01:37 PM
 
Location: Middle America
10,945 posts, read 6,982,277 times
Reputation: 16824
Ronald McDonald?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2019, 02:47 PM
 
Location: San Diego CA
8,372 posts, read 6,740,843 times
Reputation: 16681
Franklin? Sounds a little more like Lenin to me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2019, 03:07 PM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,660,872 times
Reputation: 13501
Well, that was a pleasant rummage through thinkers and thoughts.

AFAICT, there is no well-known quote along the lines of the OP's question. There are many quotes that point out how the people/population have to be motivated or educated or inspired for a revolution to succeed. I suggest the OP has a muddled memory of one or more of these.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2019, 04:50 PM
 
14,984 posts, read 23,756,605 times
Reputation: 26468
A quick google search gives me....nothing. So I can't answer your question. However I have these two famous quotes on revolutions:

"'ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again...
...Meet the new boss,
Same as the old boss."
-Pete Townsend

"You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world...
...You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead"
-John Lennon
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2019, 05:18 PM
 
Location: King County, WA
15,580 posts, read 6,317,765 times
Reputation: 13067
Note that Franklin also wrote satire, so perhaps his quotes need to be tempered with context.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2019, 06:11 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,967,234 times
Reputation: 21237
I don't know, I may have said something like that at one time or another.

There is a theory of revolution out there, I don't recall whose it was, which held that revolutions do not take place when things are at the worst for the majority of the people, they tended to take place after a period of improvement which was followed by a regression. I remember the author marched his theory through a series of revolutionary examples, and managed to shoehorn them all under the theory.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2019, 07:24 PM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,660,872 times
Reputation: 13501
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandstander View Post
There is a theory of revolution out there, I don't recall whose it was, which held that revolutions do not take place when things are at the worst for the majority of the people, they tended to take place after a period of improvement which was followed by a regression. I remember the author marched his theory through a series of revolutionary examples, and managed to shoehorn them all under the theory.
Use enough pages and you can prove anything.

As for the assumptions here that any phrase involving the word "revolution" must be from Marx(ism), it's been shown many times that if you read people passages from the Declaration of Independence or even the Constitution, they'll insist it's some kind of commie crap.

And you can read 90% of most dictatorships' founding documents and find nothing to object to... it's the escape clauses at the end that bite. "...except when the Dear Leader says so."
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-18-2019, 12:54 AM
 
23,510 posts, read 69,899,087 times
Reputation: 48859
You might be thinking of an expansion of the phrase "panem et circenses" by Juvenal, decrying the apathy of Romans supplied with food and entertainment.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > History
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top