Antonio Gramsci

"The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear."

"I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will."

"To know oneself is the beginning of all wisdom."

"The intellectual's error consists in believing one can know without understanding."

"Indifference is the dead weight of history. It is the ballast which retards mankind."

"Common sense is the sense of the masses, the passive and mechanical sense."

"A person shows himself most in what he does when he is left to do exactly as he pleases."

"The starting point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is."

"State and civil society are merely practical divisions of the same ethical substance."

"Traditional intellectuals identify themselves with the continuity of history and the past."

"Everyone is a philosopher, though in different ways and to different degrees."

"Language contains the entire conception of the world."

"The working class must become conscious of itself as a historical force."

"To build a new world we need new men with new thoughts."

"Culture is not something that can be imposed; it must be created."

"One must be pessimistic with the intellect and optimistic with the will."

"The prison is the most truthful expression of the state."

"If the intellectual has a function, it is precisely to educate the people."

"Power is not found in the state alone but in the complex of social relations."

"To understand the world, one must first understand the contradictions within it."

"The masses are not passive; they are constantly creating and recreating their world."

"Freedom cannot be given; it must be seized by those who desire it."

"History teaches us that those who wish to change the world must be bold."

"The subordination of women is the first oppression in human history."

"Art and literature reflect the material conditions of society."

"Patience is not passive waiting but active engagement with the future."

"The organic intellectual emerges from the people and returns to serve them."

"Knowledge without action is merely contemplation; action without knowledge is blind."

"The state is not merely repressive but also consensual in nature."

"To be counted a man, one must participate in the struggle of one's time."