Arundhati Roy Quotes

I think the greatest legacy of the 1960s was the general feeling that not only can you fight the powers that be, but you can win.

I think, you're not blagging me on this ridiculous journey, with this bit of paper. I think if you want to change things, it's not with an X on a piece of paper, it's with an X on someone's forehead.

I studied revolutions at university, and I think each revolution must begin with a moment of 'no.' If enough people have that moment at the same time, it becomes a movement.

You can jail a Revolutionary, but you can't jail the Revolution.

Our war cries opened the deaf ears of the almighty government and its accomplices.

And the spirit of revolution will not die while the hearts of these workers continue to beat.

The only thing that's going to free Huey is gun powder.

A rebellion is not a revolution. It may ultimately lead to that end.

We have a tendency to sugar coat the Civil Rights movement by showing arm in arm and everyone singing 'Kumbaya'. We don't really always show the resistance from the government, the resistance from the status quo, from the majority to silence the movement.

History dictates that unresponsive governments force ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

A movement that doesn't produce a backlash isn't much of a movement at all.

The way to reform has always led through prison.

There is no sound more powerful than the marching feet of a determined people.

I laid my hand on top of theirs, and all I could think was, Is this how revolutions begin? Not with a proclamation or a riot, but with a few people in a room somewhere with their hands clasped and a purpose.

Revolt, for you have nothing to lose but your chains and your [refugee] tents!

A little rebellion is a good thing.

Civil disobedience is the only nonviolent escape from the soul-destroying heat of violence.

The revolution will not be televised.

There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at critical points to create a power that governments cannot suppress.

If the government or the parties won't address our needs, we will. It's about direct action, even civil disobedience.

If civil disobedience is the way to go about change, than I think a lot of people will be going to San Francisco

I get up every morning and think...today I'm going to end capitalism.

Where's the activism? Nobody knows. And anyone who thinks they know, like Todd Gitlin, has their head up their ass. Nobody knows. The day before every revolution that's ever happened, that revolution was impossible. The day before Rosa Parks, that was impossible. The day after, it was inevitable.

I get up every morning and think, today I'm going to make a difference. Today I'm going to end capitalism. Today I'm going to make a revolution. I go to bed every night disappointed but I'm back to work tomorrow, and that's the only way you can do it.

Revolution begins with one step