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63 Mind-Blowing Quotes By Hannah Arendt On Power, Politics And Philosophy

Famous As: One of the Most Influential Political Theorists of the 20th Century
Born On: October 14, 1906
Died On: December 4, 1975
Born In: Linden - Mitte, Hanover, Germany
Died At Age: 69
Hannah Arendt was a renowned German-American philosopher and political theorist. She wrote numerous articles and 18 books that expressed her views, thoughts and opinions on totalitarianism on judging and thinking. Her thoughts, writings and work have had a great influence on political philosophy till this day. She is considered to be one of the most illustrious thinkers of the 20th century. The Hannah Arendt Prize has been named in her honor. Her works, thoughts, opinions and viewpoints covered varied range of subjects including politics, nature of power, totalitarianism and direct democracy. Some of her most famous political works include, ‘The Life of Mind’, ‘Origin of Totalitarianism’, On Revolution’ and ‘The Human Condition’ etc. Presenting quotable quotes and sayings by Hannah Arendt on revolution, tyranny, conditions, think, sad, truth, liar, efficiency, precept, best, worst, leader, admit, thoughts, beautiful, words, discovery, ideology, power, violence, rules and more.
The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.

The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.

Hannah Arendt
The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.

The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.

Hannah Arendt
Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

Hannah Arendt
The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.

The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.

Hannah Arendt
There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking it-self is dangerous.

There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking it-self is dangerous.

Hannah Arendt
Loving life is easy when you are abroad. Where no one knows you and you hold your life in your hands all alone, you are more master of yourself than at any other time

Loving life is easy when you are abroad. Where no one knows you and you hold your life in your hands all alone, you are more master of yourself than at any other time

Hannah Arendt
Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.

Hannah Arendt
Under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think.

Under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think.

Hannah Arendt
Forgiveness is the only way to reverse the irreversible flow of history.

Forgiveness is the only way to reverse the irreversible flow of history.

Hannah Arendt
Clichés, stock phrases, adherence to conventional, standardized codes of expression and conduct have the socially recognized function of protecting us against reality.

Clichés, stock phrases, adherence to conventional, standardized codes of expression and conduct have the socially recognized function of protecting us against reality.

Hannah Arendt
The point, as Marx saw it, is that dreams never come true.

The point, as Marx saw it, is that dreams never come true.

Hannah Arendt
Love, by its very nature, is unworldly, and it is for this reason rather than its rarity that it is not only apolitical but antipolitical, perhaps the most powerful of all antipolitical forces.

Love, by its very nature, is unworldly, and it is for this reason rather than its rarity that it is not only apolitical but antipolitical, perhaps the most powerful of all antipolitical forces.

Hannah Arendt
The third world is not a reality, but an ideology.

The third world is not a reality, but an ideology.

Hannah Arendt
No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes.

No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes.

Hannah Arendt
Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by propaganda.

Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by propaganda.

Hannah Arendt
When all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing.

When all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing.

Hannah Arendt
And the distinction between violent and non-violent action is that the former is exclusively bent upon the destruction of the old, and the latter is chiefly concerned with the establishment of something new.

And the distinction between violent and non-violent action is that the former is exclusively bent upon the destruction of the old, and the latter is chiefly concerned with the establishment of something new.

Hannah Arendt
Action, as distinguished from fabrication, is never possible in isolation; to be isolated is to be deprived of the capacity to act.

Action, as distinguished from fabrication, is never possible in isolation; to be isolated is to be deprived of the capacity to act.

Hannah Arendt
Men in plural […] can experience meaningfulness only because they can talk with and make sense to each other and themselves.

Men in plural […] can experience meaningfulness only because they can talk with and make sense to each other and themselves.

Hannah Arendt
Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core.

Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core.

Hannah Arendt
As citizens, we must prevent wrongdoing because the world in which we all live, wrong-doer, wrong sufferer and spectator, is at stake.

As citizens, we must prevent wrongdoing because the world in which we all live, wrong-doer, wrong sufferer and spectator, is at stake.

Hannah Arendt
Revolutionaries do not make revolutions! The revolutionaries are those who know when power is lying in the street and when they can pick it up. Armed uprising by itself has never yet led to revolution.

Revolutionaries do not make revolutions! The revolutionaries are those who know when power is lying in the street and when they can pick it up. Armed uprising by itself has never yet led to revolution.

Hannah Arendt
For politics is not like the nursery; in politics obedience and support are the same.

For politics is not like the nursery; in politics obedience and support are the same.

Hannah Arendt
The greatest evil perpetrated is the evil committed by nobodies, that is, by human beings who refuse to be persons

The greatest evil perpetrated is the evil committed by nobodies, that is, by human beings who refuse to be persons

Hannah Arendt
Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity.

Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity.

Hannah Arendt
Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent. Violence appears where power is in jeopardy, but left to its own course it ends in power's disappearance.

Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent. Violence appears where power is in jeopardy, but left to its own course it ends in power's disappearance.

Hannah Arendt
Revolutions are the only political events which confront us directly and inevitably with the problem of beginning.

Revolutions are the only political events which confront us directly and inevitably with the problem of beginning.

Hannah Arendt
When an old truth ceases to be applicable, it does not become any truer by being stood on its head.

When an old truth ceases to be applicable, it does not become any truer by being stood on its head.

Hannah Arendt
Courage is indispensible because in politics not life but the world is at stake.

Courage is indispensible because in politics not life but the world is at stake.

Hannah Arendt
Nobody is the author or producer of his own life story ... somebody began it and is its subject in the twofold sense, namely, its actor and sufferer ... but nobody is the author ...

Nobody is the author or producer of his own life story ... somebody began it and is its subject in the twofold sense, namely, its actor and sufferer ... but nobody is the author ...

Hannah Arendt
One of the greatest advantages of the totalitarian elites of the twenties and thirties was to turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.

One of the greatest advantages of the totalitarian elites of the twenties and thirties was to turn any statement of fact into a question of motive.

Hannah Arendt
The most redical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revulution

The most redical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revulution

Hannah Arendt
[Justice] demands seclusion, it permits sorrow rather than anger, and it prescribes the most careful abstention from all the nice pleasures of putting oneself in the limelight.

[Justice] demands seclusion, it permits sorrow rather than anger, and it prescribes the most careful abstention from all the nice pleasures of putting oneself in the limelight.

Hannah Arendt
The ideals of homo faber, the fabricator of the world, which are permanence, stability, and durability, have been sacrificed to abundance, the ideal of the animal laborans.

The ideals of homo faber, the fabricator of the world, which are permanence, stability, and durability, have been sacrificed to abundance, the ideal of the animal laborans.

Hannah Arendt
To be sure, totalitarian dictators do not consciously embark upon the road to insanity. The

To be sure, totalitarian dictators do not consciously embark upon the road to insanity. The

Hannah Arendt
The only antidote to the irreversibility of history is the faculty of forgiveness.

The only antidote to the irreversibility of history is the faculty of forgiveness.

Hannah Arendt
Evil in the Third Reich had lost the quality by which most people recognize it—the quality of temptation.

Evil in the Third Reich had lost the quality by which most people recognize it—the quality of temptation.

Hannah Arendt
War has become a luxury that only small nations can afford.

War has become a luxury that only small nations can afford.

Hannah Arendt
It was as though in those last minutes he was summing up the lessons that this long course in human wickedness had taught us - the lesson of the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil.

It was as though in those last minutes he was summing up the lessons that this long course in human wickedness had taught us - the lesson of the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil.

Hannah Arendt
...and if he suffers, he must suffer for what he has done, not for what he has caused others to suffer.

...and if he suffers, he must suffer for what he has done, not for what he has caused others to suffer.

Hannah Arendt
... Half of politics is

... Half of politics is "image-making", the other half is the art of making people believe the image

Hannah Arendt
In the Third Reich evil lost its distinctive characteristic by which most people had until then recognized it. The Nazis redefined it as a civil norm.

In the Third Reich evil lost its distinctive characteristic by which most people had until then recognized it. The Nazis redefined it as a civil norm.

Hannah Arendt
If the ability to tell right from wrong should have anything to do with the ability to think, then we must be able to ‘demand’ its exercise in every sane person no matter how erudite or ignorant.

If the ability to tell right from wrong should have anything to do with the ability to think, then we must be able to ‘demand’ its exercise in every sane person no matter how erudite or ignorant.

Hannah Arendt
Good works, because they must be forgotten instantly, can never become part of the world; they come and go,leaving no trace. They truly are not of this world.

Good works, because they must be forgotten instantly, can never become part of the world; they come and go,leaving no trace. They truly are not of this world.

Hannah Arendt
Revolutionary action more often than not was a theatrical concession to the desires of violently discontented masses rather than an actual battle for power.

Revolutionary action more often than not was a theatrical concession to the desires of violently discontented masses rather than an actual battle for power.

Hannah Arendt
What are we “doing” when we do nothing but think? Where are we when we, normally always surrounded by our fellow men, are together with no one but ourselves?

What are we “doing” when we do nothing but think? Where are we when we, normally always surrounded by our fellow men, are together with no one but ourselves?

Hannah Arendt
For legends attract the very best in our times, just as ideologies attract the average, and the whispered tales of gruesome secret powers behind the scenes attract the very worst.

For legends attract the very best in our times, just as ideologies attract the average, and the whispered tales of gruesome secret powers behind the scenes attract the very worst.

Hannah Arendt
Slavery became the social condition of the laboring classes because it was felt that it was the natural condition of life itself. Omnis vita servitium est.

Slavery became the social condition of the laboring classes because it was felt that it was the natural condition of life itself. Omnis vita servitium est.

Hannah Arendt
There is hardly a better way to avoid discussion than by releasing an argument from the control of the present and by saying that only the future will reveal its merits.

There is hardly a better way to avoid discussion than by releasing an argument from the control of the present and by saying that only the future will reveal its merits.

Hannah Arendt
Whatever can be taken away from a lasting enjoyment for its own sake cannot possibly be the proper object of desire.

Whatever can be taken away from a lasting enjoyment for its own sake cannot possibly be the proper object of desire.

Hannah Arendt
...half of politics is

...half of politics is "image-making", the other half the art of making people believe the imager

Hannah Arendt
...the solution to the Jewish question merely produced a new category of refugees, the Arabs, thereby increasing the number of the stateless and rightless by another 700,000 to 800,000 people.

...the solution to the Jewish question merely produced a new category of refugees, the Arabs, thereby increasing the number of the stateless and rightless by another 700,000 to 800,000 people.

Hannah Arendt
Factuality itself depends for its continued existence upon the existence of the nontotalitarian world.

Factuality itself depends for its continued existence upon the existence of the nontotalitarian world.

Hannah Arendt
But this was a moral question, and the answer to it may not have been legally relevant.

But this was a moral question, and the answer to it may not have been legally relevant.

Hannah Arendt
Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such,

Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such,

Hannah Arendt
To sum up: politically speaking, it is insufficient to say that power and violence are not the same. Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent.

To sum up: politically speaking, it is insufficient to say that power and violence are not the same. Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent.

Hannah Arendt
The last century has produced an abundance of ideologies that pretend to be keys to history but are actually nothing but desperate efforts to escape responsibility.

The last century has produced an abundance of ideologies that pretend to be keys to history but are actually nothing but desperate efforts to escape responsibility.

Hannah Arendt
The only possible metaphor one may conceive of for the life of the mind is the sensation of being alive. Without the breath of life, the human body is a corpse; without thinking, the human mind is dead.

The only possible metaphor one may conceive of for the life of the mind is the sensation of being alive. Without the breath of life, the human body is a corpse; without thinking, the human mind is dead.

Hannah Arendt
The crime of the Nuremberg Laws was a national crime; it violated national, constitutional rights and liberties, but it was of no concern to the comity of nations.

The crime of the Nuremberg Laws was a national crime; it violated national, constitutional rights and liberties, but it was of no concern to the comity of nations.

Hannah Arendt
The antisemites who called themselves patriots introduced that new species of national feeling which consists primarily in a complete whitewash of one's own people and a sweeping condemnation of all others.

The antisemites who called themselves patriots introduced that new species of national feeling which consists primarily in a complete whitewash of one's own people and a sweeping condemnation of all others.

Hannah Arendt
Under the most diverse conditions and disparate circumstances, we watch the development of the same phenomena—homelessness on an unprecedented scale, rootlessness to an unprecedented depth.

Under the most diverse conditions and disparate circumstances, we watch the development of the same phenomena—homelessness on an unprecedented scale, rootlessness to an unprecedented depth.

Hannah Arendt
No human life, not even the life of the hermit in nature’s wilderness, is possible without a world which directly or indirectly testifies to the presence of other human beings.

No human life, not even the life of the hermit in nature’s wilderness, is possible without a world which directly or indirectly testifies to the presence of other human beings.

Hannah Arendt