--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...the Government must not think that…" description: "\"...the Government must not think that they can stop this agitation. It will go on...We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are here in out eff..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_agitation_the-government-must-not-think-that-they_8992.jpg" --- # ...the Government must not think that they can stop this… ![“...the Government must not think that they can stop this agitation. It will go on...We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are here in out efforts to become law-makers.” quote by Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_agitation_the-government-must-not-think-that-they_8992.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_agitation_the-government-must-not-think-that-they_8992.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ae/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_agitation_the-government-must-not-think-that-they_8992.jpg) > “...the Government must not think that they can stop this agitation. It will go on...We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are here in out efforts to become law-makers.” [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A call for persistent civil disobedience, asserting that protest cannot be silenced and that activists aim to shape legislation, not merely break laws. **In simple terms:** Protest fuels change. Key Takeaway Activism seeks to rewrite rules. Themes civil rights political activism women's suffrage nonviolent resistance social change empowerment Mood defiant hopeful determined Type political motivational historical When to use this quote - public demonstrations - parliamentary petitions - grassroots organizing - media campaigns - legal challenges Key Concepts agitation law-making collective action government response Practical Applications - policy advocacy - public awareness campaigns Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms can transform protest into legislative power? - How does framing activists as law‑makers affect public perception? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation/) [Agitation Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation-law-347323/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-think-347322/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Law breakers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-breakers/) [Law Makers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-makers-297820/) [Makers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/makers/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Stop Agitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-agitation-347321/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Women 's rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-s-rights/) [Words of wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-of-wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/we-are-here-not-because-we-are-law-breakers-we-are-here-in-our/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [“When the law makers are the law breakers, there is no law,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-brandner/when-the-law-makers-are-the-law-breakers-there-is-no-law/) [Cindy Brandner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-brandner/) > [“It is not enough to be electors only. It is necessary to be law-makers; otherwise those who can be law-makers will be the masters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhimrao-ramji-ambedkar/it-is-not-enough-to-be-electors-only-it-is-necessary-to-be-law-makers/) [Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhimrao-ramji-ambedkar/) > [“How can you follow a law when it's makers were corrupt?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/segun-magbagbeola/how-can-you-follow-a-law-when-it-s-makers-were-corrupt/) [Segun Magbagbeola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/segun-magbagbeola/) > [The desire the law makers have in having only dispensary owners to control marijuana is part of the game our law makers play to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-machat/the-desire-the-law-makers-have-in-having-only-dispensary-owners-to/) [Steven Machat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-machat/) > [The idea that laws don't apply to the law-makers is for despotic regimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartley-brewer/the-idea-that-laws-don-t-apply-to-the-law-makers-is-for-despotic/) [Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartley-brewer/) > [The Church commends the law-makers for their prompt reaction to outlaw same-sex relationships in Nigeria and calls for the bill to be passed since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-akinola/the-church-commends-the-law-makers-for-their-prompt-reaction-to/) [Peter Akinola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-akinola/) > [Chaos can only get the shelter, where law makers make laws themselves are ridiculed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/chaos-can-only-get-the-shelter-where-law-makers-make-laws-themselves/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“Empathy is contagious, and so are the words of the law- makers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-boucheti/empathy-is-contagious-and-so-are-the-words-of-the-law-makers/) [Cathy Boucheti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-boucheti/) > [If he who breaks the law is not punished, he who obeys it is cheated. This, and this alone, is why lawbreakers ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/if-he-who-breaks-the-law-is-not-punished-he-who-obeys-it-is-cheated/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [Don't be afraid of me. I'm a law maker I'm not a law breaker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geert-wilders/don-t-be-afraid-of-me-i-m-a-law-maker-i-m-not-a-law-breaker/) [Geert Wilders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geert-wilders/) > [“Were there no law there'd be no law-breakers, So all men would be virtuous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/were-there-no-law-there-d-be-no-law-breakers-so-all-men-would-be/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [It becomes not a law-maker to be a law-breaker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bias-of-priene/it-becomes-not-a-law-maker-to-be-a-law-breaker/) [Bias of Priene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bias-of-priene/) > [But black people fall for that same argument, and they go around talking about law breakers. We did not make the laws in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-rap-brown/but-black-people-fall-for-that-same-argument-and-they-go-around/) [H. Rap Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-rap-brown/) > [The law says you cannot touch, but I see a lot of lawbreakers up in this house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcconaughey/the-law-says-you-cannot-touch-but-i-see-a-lot-of-lawbreakers-up-in/) [Matthew McConaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mcconaughey/) ## More by Emmeline Pankhurst > [If it is right for men to fight for their freedom, and God knows what the human race would be like today if men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/if-it-is-right-for-men-to-fight-for-their-freedom-and-god-knows-what/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Governments have always tried to crush reform movements, to destroy ideas, to kill the thing that cannot die. Without regard to history, which shows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/governments-have-always-tried-to-crush-reform-movements-to-destroy/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I have made speeches urging women to adopt methods of rebellion such as have been adopted by men in every revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/i-have-made-speeches-urging-women-to-adopt-methods-of-rebellion-such/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [What is the use of fighting for the vote if we do not have a country to vote in? With that patriotism that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/what-is-the-use-of-fighting-for-the-vote-if-we-do-not-have-a-country/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I had to get a close-hand view of the misery and unhappiness of a man made world, before I reached the point where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/i-had-to-get-a-close-hand-view-of-the-misery-and-unhappiness-of-a-man/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Men make the moral code and they expect women to accept it. They have decided that it is entirely right and proper for men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/men-make-the-moral-code-and-they-expect-women-to-accept-it-they-have/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [The English prison system is altogether mediaeval and outworn. In some of its details, the system has improved since they began to send the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/the-english-prison-system-is-altogether-mediaeval-and-outworn-in-some/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [When you have warfare, things happen; people suffer; the noncombatants suffer as well as the combatants. And so it happens in civil war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/when-you-have-warfare-things-happen-people-suffer-the-noncombatants/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I would rather be a rebel than a slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/i-would-rather-be-a-rebel-than-a-slave/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [There is something that Governments care for far more than human life, and that is the security of property, and so it is through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/there-is-something-that-governments-care-for-far-more-than-human-life/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/you-have-to-make-more-noise-than-anybody-else-you-have-to-make/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Those men and women are fortunate who are born at a time when a great struggle for human freedom is in progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/those-men-and-women-are-fortunate-who-are-born-at-a-time-when-a-great/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Often I have heard the taunt that suffragists are women who have failed to find any normal outlet for their emotions, and are therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/often-i-have-heard-the-taunt-that-suffragists-are-women-who-have/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Those men and women are fortunate who are born at a time when a great struggle for human freedom is in progress. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/those-men-and-women-are-fortunate-who-are-born-at-a-time-when-a-great-2/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [It always seems to me when the anti-suffrage members of the Government criticize militancy in women that it is very like beasts of prey…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/it-always-seems-to-me-when-the-anti-suffrage-members-of-the/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) [Explore all 59 Emmeline Pankhurst quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) ## More Agitation quotes > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Indifference is harder to fight than hostility, and there is nothing that kills an agitation like having everybody admit that it is fundamentally right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crystal-eastman/indifference-is-harder-to-fight-than-hostility-and-there-is-nothing/) [Crystal Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crystal-eastman/) > [This position is untenable, and there can be no pause in the agitation for full political power and responsibility until these are granted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-kelley/this-position-is-untenable-and-there-can-be-no-pause-in-the-agitation/) [Florence Kelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-kelley/) > [“It is unworthy of great spirits to spread abroad the agitation they feel”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-unworthy-of-great-spirits-to-spread-abroad-the-agitation-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“If lies comfort, and truth disturbs - self is being agitated as a result of prideful living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/if-lies-comfort-and-truth-disturbs-self-is-being-agitated-as-a-result/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [We too are called to withdraw at certain intervals into deeper silence and aloneness with God, together as a community as well as personally;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/we-too-are-called-to-withdraw-at-certain-intervals-into-deeper/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [The wisest among my race understand that agitations of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-wisest-among-my-race-understand-that-agitations-of-social/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/mirabeau-if-you-have-been-told-to-clear-us-from-this-hall-you-must/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Agitation is that part of our intellectual life where vitality results; there ideas are born, breed and bring forth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/agitation-is-that-part-of-our-intellectual-life-where-vitality/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [It is not proper to project our feelings onto things or to attribute our own sensations and passions to them. Can it also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/it-is-not-proper-to-project-our-feelings-onto-things-or-to-attribute/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Agitation is all about poetry, governance is all about prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jairam-ramesh/agitation-is-all-about-poetry-governance-is-all-about-prose/) [Jairam Ramesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jairam-ramesh/) > [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/) > [Patience takes courage. It is not an ideal state of calm. In fact, when we practice patience we will see our agitation far more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/patience-takes-courage-it-is-not-an-ideal-state-of-calm-in-fact-when/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Every day I observe more and more the folly of judging of others by ourselves; and I have so much trouble with myself, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/every-day-i-observe-more-and-more-the-folly-of-judging-of-others-by/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Mind without agitation is meditation. Mind in the present moment is meditation. Mind that has no hesitation, no anticipation is meditation. Mind that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/mind-without-agitation-is-meditation-mind-in-the-present-moment-is/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) [Browse all 173 Agitation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agitation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...the Government must not think that they can stop this agitation. 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