Hannah Arendt Quotes
When we were told that by freedom we understood free enterprise, we did very little to dispel this monstrous falsehood. Wealth and economic well-being, we have asserted, are the fruits of freedom, while we should have been the first to know that this kind of happiness has been an unmixed blessing only in this country, and it is a minor blessing compared with the truly political freedoms, such as freedom of speech and thought, of assembly and association, even under the best conditions.
Arendt, Hannah. On Revolution. Viking Press, 1963, p. 219.
Spinoza’s ideas were considered so radical and dangerous that he was the only man in history who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims.
Unlike the labor laws in their platform (see {590471}), these rights were never given the Soviet citizen. During Stalin’s reign, there was no longer even any pretense of Russians getting these rights.
There were many in England and America who thought that political parties or “factions” as the Americans called them were inimical to republican government. Smyth disagreed and thought parties necessary for freedom and democracy. Turkey at the time was an Islamic Empire that while in decline still controlled large parts of Europe and most of North Africa. However, the Sultan had absolute control over both “church and state”. He was like the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in one person, There was no freedom of thought or speech.
Hannah Arendt was a German-born American political theorist. Her many books and articles have had a lasting influence on political theory and philosophy. Arendt is widely considered one of the most important political thinkers of the 20th century.
