Georges Sorel Quotes

For twenty years I strove to free myself from what I retained of my education; I indulged my curiosity by reading books less to learn than to efface from my memory the ideas that had been thrust upon it.

Verbal communication is much easier than written communication, because words act on the feelings in a mysterious way and easily establish a current of sympathy between people; it is for this reason that an orator is able to produce conviction by arguments which do not seem very comprehensible to any one reading the speech later.

All the future of socialism resides in the autonomous development of workers’ syndicates

The myths are not descriptions of things but expressions of a determination to act

Georges Sorel, to whom fascism is so much indebted, wrote at the beginning of our century that all great movements are compelled by 'myths.' A myth is the strongest belief held by the group, and its adherents feel themselves to be an army of truth fighting an army of evil. Some years earlier, in 1895, the French psychologist Gustav Le Bon had written of the 'conservatism of crowds' which cling tenaciously to traditional ideas. Hitler took the basic nationalism of the German tradition and the longing for stable personal relationships of olden times, and built upon them as the strongest belief of the group. In the diffusion of the 'myth' Hitler fulfilled what Le Bon had forecast: that 'magical powers' were needed to control the crowd. The Fuhrer himself wrote of the 'magic influence' of mass suggestion and the liturgical aspects of his movement, and its success as a mass religion bore out the truth of this view.

George S. Kaufman was not Miss Astor’s last love. George had been supplanted in her affections by one of his best friends, whose name would surely have been disclosed had the hearing gone on. The scoop appeared on August 12 in the Daily Mirror, announcing that the best friend, an unnamed dashing broker and bachelor, maintained a seven-room penthouse on Park Avenue, complete with butler and maid. Kaufman had introduced Mary to “Mr. Big” in December, according to the Mirror.

Dans la bouche de ces prétendus représentants du prolétariat, toutes les formules socialistes perdent leur sens réel. La lutte de classe reste toujours le grand principe ; mais elle doit être subordonnée à la solidarité nationale1. L’internationalisme est un article de foi en l’honneur duquel les plus modérés se déclarent prêts à prononcer les serments les plus solennels; mais le patriotisme impose aussi des devoirs sacrés2. L’émancipation des travailleurs doit être l’œuvre des travailleurs eux-mêmes, comme on l’imprime encore tous les jours, mais la véritable émancipation consiste à voter pour un professionnel de la politique, à lui assurer les moyens de se faire une bonne situation, à se donner un maître. Enfin l’État doit disparaître et on se garderait de contester ce qu’Engels a écrit là-dessus; mais cette disparition aura lieu seulement dans un avenir si lointain que l’on doit s’y préparer en utilisant provisoirement l’État pour gaver les politiciens de bons morceaux ; et la meilleure politique pour faire disparaître l’État consiste provisoirement à renforcer la machine gouvernementale ; Gribouille, qui se jette à l’eau pour ne pas être mouillé par la pluie, n’aurait pas raisonné autrement. Etc, etc.

The tragedy of revolutions lies in the fatal metamorphosis that drives them from liberation to the struggle for survival, and finally to the edification of a new oppressive rule; from emancipating violence to coercive violence. The key to durably preserving their liberating potential has not yet been found, but this is not a good reason to condemn liberation itself. In any case, revolutions do not care about law, and this is both for the best and for the worst. One need not share Walter Benjamin’s messianism or Georges Sorel’s theory of myth to understand revolution as the expression of a ‘law-destroying’ violence, which is the premise for the emergence of a new sovereignty.

For twenty years I strove to free myself from what I retained of my education; I indulged my curiosity by reading books less to learn than to efface from my memory the ideas that had been thrust upon it.

The sublime is dead in the bourgeoisie and it is doomed to possess no ethic in the future.

On doit procéder par tâtonnements, essayer des hypothèses vraisemblables et partielles se contenter d'approximations provisoires, de manière à laisser toujours la porte ouverte à des corrections progressives.

Newsmen went after any man named in the diary. No stud was left unturned. The press even dug up Bennett Cerf, who had barely been mentioned. He laughed when told in what context his name appeared. “Well, well! So she broke that date with me to go out with George, did she? In the light of everything that’s happened since, it would appear a broken date made that one of the luckiest days of my life.” Lest anyone think he’d fallen on the wrong side of Mary’s love ledger, he added, “Our meetings were always casual, and we were never alone.