--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While serving one of his countless…" description: "\"“While serving one of his countless sentences of imprisonment, he was given ex-wrestler Paul as cell companion. Paul was at that time a dock worker; he..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/arthur-koestler-1903_class-struggle_while-serving-one-of-his-countless-sente_490700.jpg" --- # While serving one of his countless sentences of… ![“While serving one of his countless sentences of imprisonment, he was given ex-wrestler Paul as cell companion. Paul was at that time a dock worker; he was in jail for having, during a strike riot, remembered his professional past and applied the grip known as a double Nelson to a policeman. This…” quote by Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/arthur-koestler-1903_class-struggle_while-serving-one-of-his-countless-sente_490700.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/arthur-koestler-1903_class-struggle_while-serving-one-of-his-countless-sente_490700.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/arthur-koestler-1903_class-struggle_while-serving-one-of-his-countless-sente_490700.jpg) > ““While serving one of his countless sentences of imprisonment, he was given ex-wrestler Paul as cell companion. Paul was at that time a dock worker; he was in jail for having, during a strike riot, remembered his professional past and applied the grip known as a double Nelson to a policeman. This grip consisted in passing one's arms through the opponent's arm­pits from behind, locking one's hands behind his neck, and pressing his head down until the neck vertebra began to crack. In the ring this had always brought him considerable applause, but he had learned to his regret that in the class struggle the double Nelson was not done.”” [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A revolutionary's violent past clashes with collective struggle, showing that personal tactics may be useless in broader movements. **In simple terms:** Personal violence fails in collective struggle. Key Takeaway Adapt tactics to the context. Themes politics conflict ideology Mood reflective serious Type cautionary political When to use this quote - prison life - labor strikes - political activism - military training Key Concepts revolution collective action personal vs public Questions to Reflect On - Can personal strength ever replace collective strategy? - How do we reconcile past actions with new causes? A Different Perspective Violent skill may be ineffective against organized resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Class struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class-struggle/) [Double Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/double-nelson-4200345/) [Ex Wrestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ex-wrestler-1259219/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Imprisonment Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imprisonment-given-4200343/) [Policeman Grip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policeman-grip-4200344/) [Rioting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rioting/) [Striking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/striking/) [Wrestler Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrestler-paul-4200346/) [Wrestling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrestling/) ## Related quotes > [As a father and an ex-wrestler, it's a dream come true. To be able to come back and be included in 'WWE 2K17,' it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-goldberg/as-a-father-and-an-ex-wrestler-it-s-a-dream-come-true-to-be-able-to/) [Bill Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-goldberg/) > [“To riot or not to riot, that is the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/to-riot-or-not-to-riot-that-is-the-question/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“I have to think about that one for a minute. “Everybody’s pissed ’cause One-Fifteen hasn’t been charged,” I say, “but also because he’s not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-thomas/i-have-to-think-about-that-one-for-a-minute-everybody-s-pissed-cause/) [Angie Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-thomas/) > [“A police officer is paid to be attacked by angry people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/a-police-officer-is-paid-to-be-attacked-by-angry-people/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Rioting is not revolutionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/rioting-is-not-revolutionary/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“As the historian David Krugler explains, “African Americans were not so much rioting as fighting back, counterattacking, repelling violence; above all, resisting.”79”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-forman-jr-2/as-the-historian-david-krugler-explains-african-americans-were-not-so/) [James Forman Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-forman-jr-2/) > [I could see flames from the windows of my chambers. For the next three or four days we had major rioting here in Washington…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-h-greene/i-could-see-flames-from-the-windows-of-my-chambers-for-the-next-three/) [Harold H. Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-h-greene/) > [Peaceful demonstrations are essential to our democratic system. 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Writing as righting. On the best days, all three.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/writing-as-writing-writing-as-rioting-writing-as-righting-on-the-best/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“It’s complete madness! There are cars on fire, shops being looted by teenagers, people rioting and protesting over something they have no control over.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-medina/it-s-complete-madness-there-are-cars-on-fire-shops-being-looted-by/) [Jason Medina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-medina/) > [I did not say BLM leaders called for rioting, as some are accusing me of saying on CNN.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-caputo/i-did-not-say-blm-leaders-called-for-rioting-as-some-are-accusing-me/) [Michael Caputo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-caputo/) > ["This is now the twelfth day of rioting in France. They have been rioting for almost two weeks. And France has still not surrendered.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/this-is-now-the-twelfth-day-of-rioting-in-france-they-have-been/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/order-was-only-restored-in-l-a-when-it-came-time-for-the-blacks-to/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) ## More by Arthur Koestler > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-temptations-of-god-were-always-more-dangerous-for-mankind-than/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. 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Such intuitions give the appearance of miraculous flushes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-moment-of-truth-the-sudden-emergence-of-a-new-insight-is-an-act/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which - miraculously, it seems - merge into a significant event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-original-a-discovery-the-more-obvious-it-seems-afterwards/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [“Revolutionary theory had frozen to a dogmatic cult, with a simplified, easily graspable catechism, and with No. 1 as the high priest celebrating the Mass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/revolutionary-theory-had-frozen-to-a-dogmatic-cult-with-a-simplified/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated-2/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more backwoodish a social group, juvenile or adult, the stricter its conception of the normal, and the readier it will ridicule any departure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-backwoodish-a-social-group-juvenile-or-adult-the-stricter/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [As modern physics started with the Newtonian revolution, so modern philosophy starts with what one might call the Cartesian Catastrophe. The catastrophe consisted in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/as-modern-physics-started-with-the-newtonian-revolution-so-modern/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/if-one-looks-with-a-cold-eye-at-the-mess-man-has-made-of-history-it/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The ultimate truth is penultimately always a falsehood. He who will be proved right in the end appears to be wrong and harmful before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-ultimate-truth-is-penultimately-always-a-falsehood-he-who-will-be/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-real-achievement-in-discoveries-is-seeing-an-analogy-where-no-one/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The jester is brother to the sage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-jester-is-brother-to-the-sage/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Explore all 199 Arthur Koestler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## More Class struggle quotes > [Starting from the very reasonable, but unfortunately revolutionary concept that social practices which threaten the continuation of life on Earth must be changed, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-bari/starting-from-the-very-reasonable-but-unfortunately-revolutionary/) [Judi Bari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judi-bari/) > [The class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-class-struggle-necessarily-leads-to-the-dictatorship-of-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [“As a battle cry against feudalism, the demand for democracy had a progressive character. As time went on, however, the metaphysics of natural law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/as-a-battle-cry-against-feudalism-the-demand-for-democracy-had-a/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [All history has been a history of class struggles between dominated classes at various stages of social development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/all-history-has-been-a-history-of-class-struggles-between-dominated/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [The same old caveman feeling-greed, envy, violence, and mutual hate, which along the way assumed respectable pseudonyms like class struggle, racial struggle, mass struggle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/the-same-old-caveman-feeling-greed-envy-violence-and-mutual-hate/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“We in the West are accustomed to thinking that humans are all basically the same underneath our different cultural clothing, that the concerns the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-cushman/we-in-the-west-are-accustomed-to-thinking-that-humans-are-all/) [Philip Cushman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-cushman/) > [“The class struggle had a just motive, and Socialism at the beginning was in the right. What has happened is that instead of pursuing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-antonio-rivera/the-class-struggle-had-a-just-motive-and-socialism-at-the-beginning/) [José Antonio Rivera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-antonio-rivera/) > [“Totalitarian politics—far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist—use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/totalitarian-politics-far-from-being-simply-antisemitic-or-racist-or/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The Latin American Left, the criollos, direct descendents of Spaniards, they don't want to accept that they are the whites of Latin America. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bocafloja/the-latin-american-left-the-criollos-direct-descendents-of-spaniards/) [Bocafloja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bocafloja/) > [Wherever capitalism appears, in pursuit of its mission of exploitation, there will Socialism, fertilized by misery, watered by tears, and vitalized by agitation be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/wherever-capitalism-appears-in-pursuit-of-its-mission-of-exploitation/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/the-republican-and-democratic-parties-or-to-be-more-exact-the/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [“Have private property, capitalist exploitation and class rule ceased to exist? 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I did not believe in dividing people into rigid classes, and I did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nien-cheng/my-own-outlook-and-my-values-had-been-formed-long-ago-i-did-not/) [Nien Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nien-cheng/) [Browse all 153 Class struggle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class-struggle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“While serving one of his countless sentences of imprisonment, he was given ex-wrestler Paul as cell companion. Paul was at that time a dock worker; he was in jail for having, during a strike riot, remembered his professional past and applied the grip known as a double Nelson to a policeman. This grip consisted in passing one's arms through the opponent's arm­pits from behind, locking one's hands behind his neck, and pressing his head down until the neck vertebra began to crack. 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