Gil Scott-Heron Quotes

If you listen to 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,' by Gil Scott-Heron, that album is dripping with rage.

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.

While the revolution will be certainly televised, it strikes me that there is a strong possibility that the revolution will also be crowd-funded.

There's nothing automatic about political change, about liberation.

Protest is when I say this does not please me. Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more.

A little rebellion is a good thing.

It may well be that our means are fairly limited and our possibilities restricted when it comes to applying pressure on our government But is this a reason to do nothing? Despair is nor an answer Neither is resignation Resignation only leads to indifference, which is not merely a sin but a punishment.

In a world built on violence, one must be a revolutionary before one can be a pacifist.

It is right to rebel against reactionaries.

There comes an hour when protest no longer suffices; after philosophy there must be action; the strong hand finishes what the idea has sketched.

Civil disobedience is a viable political tactic, and a non-violent tactic.

Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.

From Gandhi to Mandela, from the American patriot to the Polish shipbuilders, the makers of revolutions have not come from the top.

I would start a revolution, but I just bought a hammock.

To make the revolution in the United States is a slow day by day job that requires patience and discipline. It is the only way to make it. . . . All I know is that despite the fact that I am one of the people who benefit from a capitalist society, I find that any system which exploits other people cannot and should not exist.

Stop being a consumer, fight the power!

The NGO-ization of politics threatens to turn resistance into a well-mannered, reasonable, salaried, 9-to-5 job. With a few perks thrown in. Real resistance has real consequences. And no salary.

At its essence, the message of the Occupations is simply this: ‘Here in the face of power we will sit and create a new society, in which you do count.’

Smoking dope and hanging up Che's picture is no more a commitment than drinking milk and collecting postage stamps. A revolution in consciousness is an empty high without a revolution in the distribution of power. We are not interested in the greening of Amerika except for the grass that will cover its grave.

It is the duty of a non-co-operator to preach disaffection towards the existing order of things. Non-co-operators are but giving disciplined expression to a nation's outraged feelings.

Thank God for Occupy and thank God for 'The Daily Show,' Colbert and the rising up that's going on around the world.

If the government fails to listen to your demands, then you will decide what is best for you.

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

Poetry is the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness.