Revolutionaries themselves are the last people to realize when, through force of time and circumstance, they have gradually become conservatives. It is scarcely to be wondered at if the public is very nearly as slow in the uptake.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Revolutionaries often become conservatives without realizing it, and the public notices this shift even later.
- In plain terms
- People who start revolutions often end up conservative before they know it.
- What can you take from it?
- Ideological shifts happen gradually and go unnoticed.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When do radicals become moderates?
- Why do we miss our own changes?
Another view
Not all revolutionaries inevitably become conservatives over time.
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