Lifelong dissent has more than acclimated me cheerfully to defeat. It has made me suspicious of victory. I feel uneasy at the very idea of a Movement. I see every insight degenerating into a dogma, and fresh thoughts freezing into lifeless party line.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Stone explains that long-term dissent makes him comfortable with defeat and suspicious of organized movements that turn ideas into rigid rules.
- In plain terms
- He has been fighting for so long that he accepts losing and fears groups that turn ideas into strict rules.
- What can you take from it?
- Organized movements often stifle fresh thinking.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is defeat acceptable in activism?
- Can movements stay flexible?
Another view
Movements can be necessary for change even if they risk becoming dogmatic.
More from I. F. Stone
All governments lie, but disaster lies in wait for countries whose officials smoke the same hashish they give out.
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Permalink to quote #8 A certain moral imbecility marks all ethnocentric movements.
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