Gramsci Famous Quotes & Sayings

63 Gramsci Famous Sayings, Quotes and Quotation.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Pinterest Share on Linkedin

I like Gramsci. He's an important person.Noam Chomsky Gramsci Sayings By Noam Chomsky: I like Gramsci. He's an important person.
All men are intellectuals, but not all men have in society the function of intellectualsAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: All men are intellectuals, but not all men have in society the function of intellectuals
The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.
After puberty the personality develops impetuously and all extraneous intervention becomes odious ... Now it so happens that parents feel the responsibility towards their children precisely during this second period, when it is too late.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: After puberty the personality develops impetuously and all extraneous intervention becomes odious ... Now it
Common sense is a chaotic aggregate of disparate conceptions, and one can find there anything that one like.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Common sense is a chaotic aggregate of disparate conceptions, and one can find there anything
Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. ... In the new order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. ... In the new order, Socialism
I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.
Economy and ideology. The claim (presented as an essential postulate of historical materialism) that every fluctuation of politics and ideology can be presented and expounded as an immediate expression of the structure, must be contested in theory as primitive infantilism, and combated in practice with the authentic testimony of Marx, the author of concrete political and historical works.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Economy and ideology. The claim (presented as an essential postulate of historical materialism) that every
If you beat your head against the wall, it is your head that breaks and not the wall.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: If you beat your head against the wall, it is your head that breaks and
Antonio Gramsci said that social reformers should have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. This means that one must have the intellectual ability to see how bad things are and the emotional ability to look forward with hope. It's a hard combination to sustain, but if you can do it, you can change the world.Andrew Solomon Gramsci Sayings By Andrew Solomon: Antonio Gramsci said that social reformers should have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of
Common sense is not something rigid and stationary, but is in continuous transformation, becoming enriched with scientific notions and philosophical opinions that have entered into common circulation. 'Common sense' is the folklore of philosophy and always stands midway between folklore proper (folklore as it is normally understood) and the philosophy, science, and economics of the scientists. Common sense creates the folklore of the future, a relatively rigidified phase of popular knowledge in a given time and place.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Common sense is not something rigid and stationary, but is in continuous transformation, becoming enriched
of oppressive state power. Gramsci's theory of hegemony as a form of cultural pedagogy is also invaluable as an element of critical educational thought. By emphasizing the pedagogical force of culture, Gramsci expands the sphere of the political by pointing to those diverse spaces and spheres in which cultural practices are deployed, lived, and mobilized in the service of knowledge, power and authority. For Gramsci, learning and politics were inextricably related and took place not merely in schools but in a vast array of public sites.Henry A. Giroux Gramsci Sayings By Henry A. Giroux: of oppressive state power. Gramsci's theory of hegemony as a form of cultural pedagogy is
The crisis creates situations which are dangerous in the short run, since the various strata of the population are not all capable of orienting themselves equally swiftly, or of reorganizing with the same rhythm. The traditional ruling class, which has numerous trained cadres, changes men and programmes and, with greater speed than is achieved by the subordinate classes, reabsorbs the control that was slipping from its grasp. Perhaps it may make sacrifices, and expose itself to an uncertain future by demagogic promises; but it retains power, reinforces it for the time being, and uses it to crush its adversary and disperse his leading cadres, who cannot be be very numerous or highly trained.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The crisis creates situations which are dangerous in the short run, since the various strata
Pessimism of the spirit; optimism of the will.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Pessimism of the spirit; optimism of the will.
Driving forward is the chief characteristic of western man since the Sumerians. His dread triad of vices is property-holding, voraciousness, and lust.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Driving forward is the chief characteristic of western man since the Sumerians. His dread triad
One must speak for a struggle for a new culture, that is, for a new moral life that cannot but be intimately connected to a new intuition of life, until it becomes a new way of feeling and seeing realityAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: One must speak for a struggle for a new culture, that is, for a new
A man of politics writes about philosophy: it could be that his "true" philosophy should be looked for rather in his writings on politics. In every personality there is one dominant and predominant activity: it is here that his thought must be looked for, in a form that is more often than not implicit and at times even in contradiction with what is professly expressed.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: A man of politics writes about philosophy: it could be that his "true" philosophy should
Man is above all else mind, consciousness
that is, he is a product of history, not of nature.
Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Man is above all else mind, consciousness that is, he is a product of history,
The brain is not nourished on beans and truffles but rather the food manages to reconstitute the molecules of the brain once it has been turned into homogeneous and assimilable substances, which potentially have the "same nature", as the molecules of the brainAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The brain is not nourished on beans and truffles but rather the food manages to
At a certain point in their historical lives, social classes become detached from their traditional parties. In other words, the traditional parties in that particular organisational form, with the particular men who constitute, represent and lead them, are no longer recognised by their class (or fraction of a class) as its expression. When such crises occur, the immediate situation becomes delicate and dangerous, because the field is open for violent solutions, for the activities of unknown forces, represented by charismatic "men of destiny".Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: At a certain point in their historical lives, social classes become detached from their traditional
Before puberty the child's personality has not yet formed and it is easier to guide its life and make it acquire specific habits of order, discipline, and work ...Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Before puberty the child's personality has not yet formed and it is easier to guide
The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be bornAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new
Destruction is difficult. It is as difficult as creation.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Destruction is difficult. It is as difficult as creation.
I would like you to understand completely, also emotionally, that I'm a political detainee and will be a political prisoner, that I have nothing now or in the future to be ashamed of in this situation. That, at bottom, I myself have in a certain sense asked for this detention and this sentence, because I've always refused to change my opinion, for which I would be willing to give my life and not just remain in prison. That therefore I can only be tranquil and content with myself.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: I would like you to understand completely, also emotionally, that I'm a political detainee and
The popular element "feels" but does not always know or understand; the intellectual element "knows" but does not always understand and in particular does not always feel.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The popular element "feels" but does not always know or understand; the intellectual element "knows"
This is really the common mentality of prisoners: they read with great attention all the articles that deal with illnesses and send away for treatises and "be your own doctor" or "emergency treatments" and end up by discovering that they have at least 300 or 400 illnesses, whose symptoms they are experiencing.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: This is really the common mentality of prisoners: they read with great attention all the
The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monstersAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is
I give culture this meaning: exercise of thought, acquisition of general ideas, habit of connecting causes and effects ... I believe that it means thinking well, whatever one thinks, and therefore acting well, whatever one does.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: I give culture this meaning: exercise of thought, acquisition of general ideas, habit of connecting
The starting-point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is 'knowing thyself'as a product of the historical processes to date, which has deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The starting-point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is
Common sense is not a single unique conception, identical in time and space. It is the "folklore" of philosophy, and, like folklore, it takes countless different forms. Its most fundamental character is that it is a conception which, even in the brain of one individual, is fragmentary, incoherent and inconsequential.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Common sense is not a single unique conception, identical in time and space. It is
To paraphrase Antonio Gramsci, cynicism of intellect; promise of the present.Bill Grigsby Gramsci Sayings By Bill Grigsby: To paraphrase Antonio Gramsci, cynicism of intellect; promise of the present.
If you think about it seriously, all the questions about the soul and the immortality of the soul and paradise and hell are at bottom only a way of seeing this very simple fact: that every action of ours is passed on to others according to its value, of good or evil, it passes from father to son, from one generation to the next, in a perpetual movement.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: If you think about it seriously, all the questions about the soul and the immortality
A social group can, indeed must, already exercise 'leadership' before winning governmental power (this is indeed one of the principal conditions for the winning of such power); it subsequently becomes dominant when it exercises power, but even if it holds it firmly in its grasp, it must continue to 'lead' as well.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: A social group can, indeed must, already exercise 'leadership' before winning governmental power (this is
I live, I am partisan. This is why I hate those who do not take sides; I hate those who are indifferentAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: I live, I am partisan. This is why I hate those who do not take
Indifference is the dead weight of history.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Indifference is the dead weight of history.
Telling the truth is always revolutionaryAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Telling the truth is always revolutionary
To tell the truth is revolutionary.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: To tell the truth is revolutionary.
It should never be forgotten that, in the struggle between the nations, it is in the interest of each one of them that the other should be weakened by internal struggle. Hence it is always possible to pose the question of whether the parties exist by virtue of their own strength, as their own necessity, or whether rather they only exist to serve the interests of others.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: It should never be forgotten that, in the struggle between the nations, it is in
How many times have I wondered if it is really possible to forge links with a mass of people when one has never had strong feelings for anyone, not even one's own parents: if it is possible to have a collectivity when one has not been deeply loved oneself by individual human creatures. Hasn't this had some effect on my life as a militant
has it not tended to make me sterile and reduce my quality as a revolutionary by making everything a matter of pure intellect, of pure mathematical calculation?
Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: How many times have I wondered if it is really possible to forge links with
Since defeat in the Struggle must always be envisaged, the preparation of one's own successors is as important as what one does for victory.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Since defeat in the Struggle must always be envisaged, the preparation of one's own successors
The abolition of the class struggle does not mean the abolition of the need to struggle as a principle of development.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The abolition of the class struggle does not mean the abolition of the need to
Density, complexity, and historical-semantic value that is so strong as to make politics possible ... Gramsci's insight is to have recognised that subordination, fracturing, diffusion, reproducing, as much as producing, creating, forcing, guiding, are necessary aspects of elaboration.Edward Said Gramsci Sayings By Edward Said: Density, complexity, and historical-semantic value that is so strong as to make politics possible ...
Is it better to work out consciously and critically one's own conception of the world and thus, in connection with the labours of one's own brain, choose one's sphere of activity, take an active part in the creation of the history of the world, be one's own guide, refusing to accept passively and supinely from outside the moulding of one' own personality?Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Is it better to work out consciously and critically one's own conception of the world
From the moment when a subordinate class becomes really independent and dominant, calling into being a new type of State, the need arises concretely, of building a new intellectual and moral order, i.e. a new type of society, and hence the need to elaborate the most universal concepts, the most refined and decisive ideological weapons.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: From the moment when a subordinate class becomes really independent and dominant, calling into being
Every State is a dictatorship.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Every State is a dictatorship.
The point of modernity is to live a life without illusions while not becoming disillusionedAntonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The point of modernity is to live a life without illusions while not becoming disillusioned
It is in their interests to have a stable, skilled labour force, a permanently well-adjusted complex, because the human complex (the collective worker) of an enterprise is also a machine which cannot, without considerable loss, be taken to pieces too often and renewed with single new parts.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: It is in their interests to have a stable, skilled labour force, a permanently well-adjusted
Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.
It indicates a person who has not only good manners but who possesses a sense of balance, a sure mastery of himself, a moral discipline that permits him to subordinate voluntarily his own selfish interest to the wider interests of the society in which he lives. The gentleman, therefore is a cultural person in the noblest sense of the word, if by culture we mean not simply wealth of intellectual knowledge but also the ability to fulfil one's duty and understand one's fellow man by respecting / every principle, every opinion, every faith that is sincerely professed.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: It indicates a person who has not only good manners but who possesses a sense
The principle must always rule that ideas are not born of other ideas, philosophies of other philosophies; they are a continually renewed expression of real historical development. The unity of history (what the idealists call unity of the spirit) is not a presupposition, but a continuously developing process.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The principle must always rule that ideas are not born of other ideas, philosophies of
The whole of language is a continuous process of metaphor, and the history of semantics is an aspect of the history of culture; language is at the same time a living thing and a museum of fossils of life and civilisations.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The whole of language is a continuous process of metaphor, and the history of semantics
History is at once freedom and necessity.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: History is at once freedom and necessity.
At the limit it could be said that every speaking being has a personal language of his own, that is his own particular way of thinking and feeling. Culture, at its various levels, unifies in a series of strata, to the extent that they come into contact with each other, a greater or lesser number of individuals who understand each other's mode of expression to varying degrees, etc.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: At the limit it could be said that every speaking being has a personal language
My practicality consists in this, in the knowledge that if you beat your head against the wall it is your head which breaks and not the wall - that is my strength, my only strength.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: My practicality consists in this, in the knowledge that if you beat your head against
My whole point is to say that we can better understand the persistence and the durability of saturating hegemonic systems like culture when we realize that their internal constraints upon writers and thinkers were productive, not unilaterally inhibiting. It is this idea that Gramsci, certainly, and Foucault and Raymond Williams in their very different ways have been trying to illustrate.Edward W. Said Gramsci Sayings By Edward W. Said: My whole point is to say that we can better understand the persistence and the
The philosophy of praxis does not aim at the peaceful resolution of existing contradictions in history and society, but is the very theory of these contradictions. It is not the instrument of government of the dominant groups in order to gain the consent and exercise hegemony over the subaltern classes. It is the expression of subaltern classes who want to educate themselves in the art of government and who have an interest in knowing all truths, even the unpleasant ones, and in avoiding the impossible deceptions of the upper class, and even more their own.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The philosophy of praxis does not aim at the peaceful resolution of existing contradictions in
Possibility means "freedom". The measure of freedom enters into the concept of man. That the objective possibilities exist for people not to die of hunder and that people do die of hunger, has its importance, or so one would have thought. But the existence of the objective conditions, of possibilities or of freedom is not yet enough: it is necessary to "know" them, and know how to use them.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Possibility means "freedom". The measure of freedom enters into the concept of man. That the
Common sense is the folklore of philosophy.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Common sense is the folklore of philosophy.
What comes to pass does so not so much because a few people want it to happen, as because the mass of citizens abdicate their responsibility and let things be.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: What comes to pass does so not so much because a few people want it
Ideas and opinions are not spontaneously "born" in each individual brain: they have had a centre of formation, or irradiation, of dissemination, of persuasion-a group of men, or a single individual even, which has developed them and presented them in the political form of current reality.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: Ideas and opinions are not spontaneously "born" in each individual brain: they have had a
I turn and turn in my cell like a fly that doesn't know where to die.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: I turn and turn in my cell like a fly that doesn't know where to
The old is dying and the new cannot be born. In this interregnum there arises a great diversity of morbid symptoms.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The old is dying and the new cannot be born. In this interregnum there arises
The people themselves are not a homogeneous cultural collectivity but present numerous and variously combined cultural stratifications which, in their pure form, cannot always be identified within specific historical popular collectivities.Antonio Gramsci Gramsci Sayings By Antonio Gramsci: The people themselves are not a homogeneous cultural collectivity but present numerous and variously combined