Change Quotes

"Tradition used to tell us how to live; now we must learn ourselves."

"Revolutions occur when the old forms of legitimacy have collapsed."

"The dissolution of tradition does not mean the end of human life; it means the beginning of responsibility."

"Revolution always assumes that the existing order has lost its legitimacy."

"Modernity has fractured our social world, yet communication can bridge what instrumental reason has divided."

"The lifeworld and system interpenetrate; we cannot simply restore a lost authenticity."

"The rationalization of society is not inevitable; it reflects choices that could be otherwise."

"The structural differentiation of modern society creates both opportunities and dangers."

"The romantic impulse to reject all constraints often leads merely to different, and sometimes worse, constraints."

"The romantic rebellion against social conventions often merely replaces one set of constraints with another."

"The concept of progress contains its own contradiction - progress toward what?"

"The capacity for new beginnings is the essence of human freedom."

"Tradition is broken; we cannot go backward, and we dare not remain still."

"Modernity is characterized by the blurring of distinctions that once were clear."

"Changing the world requires thinking beyond the present."

"Change is the only constant."

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes."

"What calls itself progress is often the perfection of domination."

"The leap from quantity into quality is the only hope remaining in our quantified world."

"The most important thing about any revolution is what happens after the barricades come down."

"Natality, the capacity to begin something new, is the central category of political thinking."

"The paradox of revolution is that freedom begets tyranny."

"Consciousness arises through the negation and transcendence of what preceded it."

"The moment of negation is contained within every thesis, driving dialectical progress."

"Contradiction is the moving principle of all things and all development."

"We are made of the choices we make."

"Change is the only constant, and those who resist it are fighting the nature of existence."

"Change is not progress unless we know where we are going."

"Change is the only constant in the universe."

"We cannot justify social arrangements merely by appeals to tradition or custom."