The reactionary is always willing to take a progressive attitude on any issue that is dead.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People who oppose change often support progress only when it no longer poses a threat.
- In plain terms
- Opponents only agree with progress once it is safe.
- What can you take from it?
- Watch for support that only comes after victory.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does support become genuine?
- How do you spot opportunists?
Another view
Not all late support is insincere.
More from Theodore Roosevelt
The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.
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