Quotes from Voltairine de Cleyre

There is one common struggle against those who have appropriated the earth, the money, and the machines.

There is no peace now, and there will never be peace, so long as one rules over another.

The question of souls is old—we demand our bodies, now. We are tired of promises, god is deaf, and his church is our worst enemy.

I die, as I have lived, a free spirit, an Anarchist, owing no allegiance to rulers, heavenly or earthly.

Private enterprise manages better all that to which it is equal. Anarchism declares that private enterprise, whether individual or cooperative, is equal to all the undertakings of society.

A standing army is a standing menace to liberty.

I never expect men to give us liberty. No, women, we are not worth it until we take it.

There is no society for the prevention of cruelty to women.

... it is better to study how to live rather than how to die; ... it is better to have a religion of deeds rather than a religion of creeds; ... it is better to work for humanity than for God.

As long as the working-people fold hands and pray the gods in Washington to give them work, so long they will not get it.

I die, as I have lived, a free spirit, an Anarchist, owing no allegiance to rulers, heavenly or earthly.

Anarchism, to me, means not only the denial of authority, not only a new economy, but a revision of the principles of morality. It means the development of the individual as well as the assertion of the individual. It means self-responsibility, and not leader worship.

We are bound first to imform ourselves concerning so great a matter as the revolt of millions of people- what they are struggling for, what they are struggling against, and how the struggle stands- from day to day...as best you can; and second, to spread this knowledge among others, and endeavor to do what little you can to awaken the consciousness and sympathy of others.

Would you be always young? Then be an Anarchist, and live with the faith of hope, though you be old.

Nearly all the laws which were originally framed with the intention of benefiting the workers, have either turned into weapons in their enemies' hands, or become dead letters, unless the workers through their organizations have directly enforced the observance. So that in the end, it is direct action that has to be relied on anyway.

F]or the nature of government is to become a thing apart, an institution existing for its own sake, preying upon the people, and teaching whatever will tend to keep it secure in its seat.

Each choose that method which expresses your selfhood best, and condemn no other man because he expresses his Self otherwise.

You will never get right until you start right.

T]o remain in a continually exalted moral condition is not human nature.

Good-natured satirists often remark that "the best way to cure an Anarchist is to give him a fortune." Substituting "corrupt" for "cure," I would subscribe to this;

We in America never knew the village commune. White Civilization struck our shores in a broad tide-sheet and swept over the country inclusively; among us was never seen the little commune growing up from a state of barbarism independently, out of primary industries, and maintaining itself within itself. There was no gradual change from the mode of life of the native people to our own; there was a wiping out and a complete transplantation of the latest form of European civilization.

No matter: Man always hopes; Life always hopes. When a definite object cannot be outlined, the indomitable spirit of hope still impels the living mass to move toward something--something that shall somehow be better. What

The idea of the little commune, therefore, comes instinctively to the Anarchists of Europe, – particularly the continental ones; with them it is merely the conscious development of a submerged instinct. With Americans it is an importation. I

As to the essence of Commerce and Manufacture, it is this: to establish bonds between every corner of the earth's surface and every other corner, to multiply the needs of mankind, and the desire for material possession and enjoyment.