Political capital is not powder to be kept dry; it is a muscle that gets stronger with use.--comment on the political blog Daily Kos
With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men.— Clarence Darrow
There is no such thing as the open shop, really. There is a union shop and a nonunion shop. Everybody that believes in the open shop disbelieves in the union shop, whatever they say.— Clarence Darrow
Wherever men have looked upward and onward, worked for the poor and the week, they have been sacrificed.— Clarence Darrow
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.— Leonardo da Vinci
Nothing strengthens authority as much as silence.— Leonardo da Vinci
You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because you're all the same.— Jonathan Davis (vocalist for the rock band Korn)
Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)
Eugene V. Debs
It is when you have done your work honestly, when you have contributed your share to the common fund that you begin to live.—Eugene V. Debs
The most heroic word in all languages is revolution.—Eugene V. Debs
There is certainly...something wrong in that form of unionism whose leaders are the lieutenants of capitalism.—Eugene V. Debs
While there is a lower class I am in it, while there is a criminal element I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.—Eugene V. Debs
I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.—Eugene V. Debs
You have got to unite in the same labor union and in the same political party and strike and vote together, and the hour you do that, the world is yours.—Eugene V. Debs
What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command.—Eugene V. Debs
If you go to the city of Washington, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of congress, and mis-representatives of the masses claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad that I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, not from the ranks.--Eugene V. Debs
The most heroic word in all languages is revolution.—Eugene V. Debs
There is certainly...something wrong in that form of unionism whose leaders are the lieutenants of capitalism.—Eugene V. Debs
While there is a lower class I am in it, while there is a criminal element I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.—Eugene V. Debs
I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.—Eugene V. Debs
You have got to unite in the same labor union and in the same political party and strike and vote together, and the hour you do that, the world is yours.—Eugene V. Debs
What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command.—Eugene V. Debs
If you go to the city of Washington, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of congress, and mis-representatives of the masses claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad that I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, not from the ranks.--Eugene V. Debs
...
Lou Dobbs
Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting
things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people
under your control.— Denis Diderot
If CEOs insist that middle class Americans compete with cheap foreign labor, why not outsource the jobs of CEOs? If business is all about cost, they should be the first to volunteer.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (September 2004)
When was the last time you heard of a CEO's job being outsourced? It just doesn't happen.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (12/2/04)
The fact is whether one looks at this [outsourcing] in terms of men and women, working men and women in this country who are simply being screwed, or whether one looks at this in terms of corporations who are benefiting, the fact is it is certainly not helping the American economy.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (5/22/03)
I am pro-business, not pro-stupidity.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (12/2/04)
Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken.—Bill Dodds
The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.—Thomas Donahue
As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.— William O. Douglas
The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat falsehoods is with truth.— William O. Douglas
Fear of ideas makes us impotent and ineffective.— William O. Douglas
If CEOs insist that middle class Americans compete with cheap foreign labor, why not outsource the jobs of CEOs? If business is all about cost, they should be the first to volunteer.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (September 2004)
When was the last time you heard of a CEO's job being outsourced? It just doesn't happen.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (12/2/04)
The fact is whether one looks at this [outsourcing] in terms of men and women, working men and women in this country who are simply being screwed, or whether one looks at this in terms of corporations who are benefiting, the fact is it is certainly not helping the American economy.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (5/22/03)
I am pro-business, not pro-stupidity.— Lou Dobbs, CNN financial correspondent and author of Exporting America (12/2/04)
Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken.—Bill Dodds
The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.—Thomas Donahue
As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.— William O. Douglas
The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat falsehoods is with truth.— William O. Douglas
Fear of ideas makes us impotent and ineffective.— William O. Douglas
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)
Frederick Douglass
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet
deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They
want rain without thunder and lightning.— Frederick Douglass
Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.—Frederick Douglass
People might not get all that they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all that they get.—Frederick Douglass
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.—Frederick Douglass
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.—Frederick Douglass
Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.—Frederick Douglass
People might not get all that they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all that they get.—Frederick Douglass
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.—Frederick Douglass
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.—Frederick Douglass
Years ago, my mother used to say to me, she'd say 'In this world, Elwood, you must be'--she always called me Elwood--'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh-so-smart or oh-so-pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.— Elwood P. Dowd, portrayed by Jimmy Stewart, in the film "Harvey"
So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.— Peter Drucker
Business knows no pity, and cares for justice only when justice is seen to be better policy. If it had power to control the elements, it would grasp in its iron clutches the waters, sunshine and air and resell them by measure, and at exorbitant prices to the millions of famished men, women and children.—W.A. Duncan, in the Cherokee Advocate, 1892
The revolution starts now.—Steve Earle, singer/songwriter
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.—Abba Eban
There ain't no rules around here. We're trying to accomplish something.—Thomas Edison
Labor rights are as fundamental as human rights and the job of a democratic country is to protect both.—Tony Ehreneich, regional secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
...
Albert Einstein
The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.—Albert Einstein
Imagination is more important than knowledge.—Albert Einstein
It is appallingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity.—Albert Einstein
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.—Albert Einstein
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved through understanding.—Albert Einstein
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.—Albert Einstein
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.—Albert Einstein
Today in America, unions have a secure place in our industrial life. Only a handful of reactionaries harbor the ugly thought of breaking unions and depriving working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice. I have no use for those -- regardless of their political party -- who hold some vain and foolish dream of spinning the clock back to days when organized labor was huddled, almost as a hapless mass. Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice.—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and are not clothed.—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.--Dwight D. Eisenhower
People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.—Ralph Waldo Emerson
To the fervent proponents of ruthless corporate capitalism I say: make a millionaire CEO live as a poor sweatshop worker in Indonesia for one month and then ask him about the merits of the world economic system.—Vassilis Epaminondou
The state of the Union largely depends on the state of the unions.—Evan Esar
When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion.—Ethiopian Proverb
If the workers of the world want to win, all they have to do is recognize their own solidarity. They have nothing to do but fold their arms and the world will stop. The workers are more powerful with their hands in their pockets than all the property of the capitalists. . . .—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
The scaffold has never yet and never will destroy an idea or a movement.--Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
An idea consisting of a social crime in one age becomes the very religion of humanity in the next.--Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
It is said that our ideas are impractical. That is true. From the standpoint of old institutions, interests and their beneficiaries; the new is always impractical. We also hear it said that our efforts are dangerous. Yes, gentle reader, our ideas, our principles and object are certainly dangerous and menacing, applied by a united working class would shake society and certainly those who are now on top sumptuously feeding upon the good things they have not produced would feel the shock.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer ("Industrial Unionism: The Road To Freedom")
[R]ight and wrong are relative terms--and it all resolves into a question of Power.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer ("Industrial Unionism: The Road To Freedom")
Our country has been ravaged and stolen by industrial pirates and yet, learned judges have decreed that it was "legal".... whatever the king has done, the courtiers have most humbly considered right and the guards and men-at-arms been ready to see that the slaves did not rebel against it all.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer ("Industrial Unionism: The Road To Freedom")
Imagination is more important than knowledge.—Albert Einstein
It is appallingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity.—Albert Einstein
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.—Albert Einstein
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved through understanding.—Albert Einstein
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.—Albert Einstein
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.—Albert Einstein
Today in America, unions have a secure place in our industrial life. Only a handful of reactionaries harbor the ugly thought of breaking unions and depriving working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice. I have no use for those -- regardless of their political party -- who hold some vain and foolish dream of spinning the clock back to days when organized labor was huddled, almost as a hapless mass. Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice.—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and are not clothed.—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.--Dwight D. Eisenhower
People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.—Ralph Waldo Emerson
To the fervent proponents of ruthless corporate capitalism I say: make a millionaire CEO live as a poor sweatshop worker in Indonesia for one month and then ask him about the merits of the world economic system.—Vassilis Epaminondou
The state of the Union largely depends on the state of the unions.—Evan Esar
When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion.—Ethiopian Proverb
If the workers of the world want to win, all they have to do is recognize their own solidarity. They have nothing to do but fold their arms and the world will stop. The workers are more powerful with their hands in their pockets than all the property of the capitalists. . . .—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
The scaffold has never yet and never will destroy an idea or a movement.--Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
An idea consisting of a social crime in one age becomes the very religion of humanity in the next.--Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer
It is said that our ideas are impractical. That is true. From the standpoint of old institutions, interests and their beneficiaries; the new is always impractical. We also hear it said that our efforts are dangerous. Yes, gentle reader, our ideas, our principles and object are certainly dangerous and menacing, applied by a united working class would shake society and certainly those who are now on top sumptuously feeding upon the good things they have not produced would feel the shock.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer ("Industrial Unionism: The Road To Freedom")
[R]ight and wrong are relative terms--and it all resolves into a question of Power.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer ("Industrial Unionism: The Road To Freedom")
Our country has been ravaged and stolen by industrial pirates and yet, learned judges have decreed that it was "legal".... whatever the king has done, the courtiers have most humbly considered right and the guards and men-at-arms been ready to see that the slaves did not rebel against it all.—Joseph Ettor, IWW organizer ("Industrial Unionism: The Road To Freedom")