Reform

"Die eifrigsten Reformer haben lernen müssen, dass sie sich selbst jeglicher Macht berauben, wenn sie den schwerfälligen Massen zu weit voraneilen. Auf eine Revolution ist stets eine Reaktion gefolgt."

"Jede große Reform hat nicht darin bestanden, etwas Neues zu tun, sondern etwas Altes abzuschaffen."

"Von oben herab muss reformiert werden, wenn nicht von unten hinauf revolutioniert werden soll."

"Wenn Reformen dauerhaft sein sollen, so müssen sie langsam durchgeführt werden."

"Will man konservieren, muss man zur rechten Zeit reformieren."

"REFORM, v. A thing that mostly satisfies reformers opposed to reformation."

"The oyster-women lock'd their fish up, And trudged away to cry, No Bishop."

"What sort of reformers and workers are you, that work only on the rotten material? That never think of meddling with the material while it continues sound; that stress it and strain it with new rates and assessments, till once it has given way and declared itself rotten; whereupon you snatch greedily at it, and say, Now let us try to do some good upon it! You mistake in every way, my friends: the fact is, you fancy yourselves men of virtue, benevolence, what not; and you are not even men of sincerity and honest sense. I grieve to say it; but it is true. Good from you, and your operations, is not to be expected."

"But he was an altered man, and he could not bear the thought of returning to a place where his repentance would be scoffed at, and his reformation disbelieved."

"A rayformer thinks he was ilicted because he was a rayformer, whin th' thruth iv th' matther is he was ilicted because no wan knew him."

"Contemporary man has begun to lose his naiveté as ... the deep causes of the situation in which he finds himself are becoming clearer. He realizes that to attack these deep causes is the indispensable prerequisite for radical change. And so he has gradually abandoned a simple reformist attitude regarding the existing social order, for, by its very shallowness this reformism perpetuates the existing system."

"Government and the infrastructure of the enemy capitalist state must be destroyed to get at the heart of the problem: property relations. Otherwise there is no revolution. Reshuffle the governmental personnel and forms, without changing property relations and economic institutions, and you have produced simply another reform stage in the old bourgeois revolution"

"The revolution has failed. Fascism has temporarily succeeded under the guise of reform. The only way we can destroy it is to refuse to compromise with the enemy state and its ruling class."

"The voice of great events is proclaiming to us, Reform, that you may preserve."

"My desolation does begin to make A better life."

"And like bright metal on a sullen ground, My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off."

"Never came reformation in a flood."

"The best reformers the world has ever seen are those who commence on themselves."

"Because James II had attempted to destroy the institutions of the country, it long remained impossible for anyone else to attempt their reform."

"In dialectics, we know everything contains positive and negative attributes. Reforms can be used to advance Revolution or to forestall Revolution. Dialectics inform us that when the negative dominates the positive in reform it becomes an obstacle on the road to freedom; it must give way to Revolution."

"The capitalist press supports reform movements which forestall Revolution; these reform movements come to depend on the press and even tailor their activities to fit headlines. The capitalist press wants to intoxicate the masses with this reform movement. Intoxicated reform “leaders” believe that political power grows out of the lens of press cameras, and the more lenses, the more power. Just political power comes only from the organized masses."

"The purpose of a university should be to make a son as unlike his father as possible. By the time a man has grown old enough to have a son in college he has specialized. The university should generalize the treatment of its undergraduates, should struggle to put them in touch with every force of life. Every man of established success is dangerous to society. His tendency is to keep society as it is. His success has been founded upon it. You will not find many reformers among the successful men."

"Grant that the old Adam in these persons may be so buried, that the new man may be raised up in them."

"All zeal for a reform, that gives offence To peace and charity, is mere pretence."

"But 'tis the talent of our English nation, Still to be plotting some new reformation."

"He bought a Bible of the new translation, And in his life he show'd great reformation; He walkèd mannerly and talked meekly; He heard three lectures and two sermons weekly; He vow'd to shun all companions unruly, And in his speech he used no oath but "truly;" And zealously to keep the Sabbath's rest."

"The Bolshevists would blow up the fabric with high explosive, with horror. Others would pull down with the crowbars and with cranks—especially with cranks…. Sweating, slums, the sense of semi-slavery in labour, must go. We must cultivate a sense of manhood by treating men as men."

"I do not mean to be disrespectful, but the attempt of the Lords to stop the progress of reform, reminds me very forcibly of the great storm of Sidmouth, and of the conduct of the excellent Mrs. Partington on that occasion. In the winter of 1824, there set in a great flood upon that town—the tide rose to an incredible height: the waves rushed in upon the houses, and everything was threatened with destruction. In the midst of this sublime and terrible storm, Dame Partington, who lived upon the beach, was seen at the door of her house with mop and pattens, trundling her mop, squeezing out the sea water, and vigorously pushing away the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic was roused. Mrs. Partington's spirit was up; but I need not tell you that the contest was unequal. The Atlantic Ocean beat Mrs. Partington. She was excellent at a slop or a puddle, but she should not have meddled with a tempest."