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But Socialists were not born yesterday. They know how to read capitalist newspapers; and to believe exactly the opposite of what they read. Why should a Socialist be discouraged on the eve of the greatest triumph in all the history of the Socialist movement? It is true that these are anxious, trying days for us all-testing days for the women and men who are upholding the banner of labor in the struggle of the working class of all the world against the exploiters of all the world; a time in which the weak and cowardly will falter and fail and desert. They lack the fiber to endure the revolutionary test; they fall away; they disappear as if they had never been. On the other hand, they who are animated by the unconquerable spirit of the social revolution; they who have the moral courage to stand erect and assert their convictions; stand by them; fight for them; go to jail or to hell for them, if need be - they are writing their names, in this crucial hour - they are writing their names in faceless letters in the history of mankind.

Eugene V. Debs#44

WorkSolidarityResilienceRevolutionCourage

About this quote

What does it mean?
Socialists should remain steadfast despite setbacks, as true revolutionaries endure while the weak abandon the cause.
In plain terms
Stay strong in your beliefs even when things are hard; only committed people will succeed.
What can you take from it?
Revolutionary movements require moral courage and endurance through difficult times.

Where it applies

  • political struggle
  • labor organizing
  • social change

Putting it to work

  • staying committed during setbacks
  • leading by example
  • building lasting movements

Questions to consider

  • What would make you give up on a cause?
  • How do you define moral courage?

Another view

It assumes endurance alone guarantees success without strategic adaptation.

More from Eugene V. Debs

  1. There is nothing that helps the Socialist Party so much as receiving an occasional deathblow. The oftener it is killed the more active, the more energetic, the…

    Permalink to quote #43
  2. These are the gentry who are today wrapped up in the American flag, who shout their claim from the housetops that they are the only patriots, and who have thei…

    Permalink to quote #45
  3. I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, …

    Permalink to quote #42

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