Quote#Wisdom
You need at this time especially to know that you are fit for…
Quote byEugene V. Debs · 1855–1926
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Canton, Ohio Speech, Anti-War Speech (1918).
English (original)
You need at this time especially to know that you are fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder. You need to know that you were not created to work and produce and impoverish yourself to enrich an idle exploiter. You need to know that you have a mind to improve, a soul to develop, and a manhood to sustain.
— Eugene V. Debs
More from Eugene V. Debs
You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists use your heads and your hands.
I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are.
The workers are the saviors of society; the redeemers of the race; and when they have fulfilled their great historic mission, men and women can walk the highlands and enjoy the vision of a land without masters and without slaves, a land …
We can run the mills without them but they cannot run them without us.
The issue is Socialism versus Capitalism. I am for Socialism because I am for humanity. We have been cursed with the reign of gold long enough. Money constitutes no proper basis of civilization. The time has come to regenerate society — we …
Wherever capitalism appears, in pursuit of its mission of exploitation, there will Socialism, fertilized by misery, watered by tears, and vitalized by agitation be also found, unfurling its class-struggle banner and proclaiming its mission …