--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The individual protests against the…" description: "\"The individual protests against the world, but he doesn't get beyond protest, he is just a single protester. When he wants to be more than that, he has..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/friedrich-d-rrenmatt-4497_individual_the-individual-protests-against-the-worl_2690467.png" --- # The individual protests against the world, but he doesn't… ![“The individual protests against the world, but he doesn't get beyond protest, he is just a single protester. When he wants to be more than that, he has to counter power with power, he has to oppose the system with another system.” quote by Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/friedrich-d-rrenmatt-4497_individual_the-individual-protests-against-the-worl_2690467.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/friedrich-d-rrenmatt-4497_individual_the-individual-protests-against-the-worl_2690467.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/friedrich-d-rrenmatt-4497_individual_the-individual-protests-against-the-worl_2690467.png) > “The individual protests against the world, but he doesn't get beyond protest, he is just a single protester. When he wants to be more than that, he has to counter power with power, he has to oppose the system with another system.” [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Individual protest is limited; systemic change requires building alternative structures of power. **In simple terms:** Protest alone isn’t enough; create new systems. Key Takeaway Build counter‑systems to effect change. Themes activism power systemic change Mood critical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - social movements - political reform - community organizing Key Concepts political theory social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What alternative structures can you realistically develop? - How do you avoid replicating the same oppression? A Different Perspective Counter‑power can lead to escalation or conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Honor? What do you care about honor? Honor gets people killed!' 'At least they die for something,' I say, and he doesn't protest further.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-vizzini/honor-what-do-you-care-about-honor-honor-gets-people-killed-at-least/) [Ned Vizzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-vizzini/) > [When you know you are of worth, you don't have to raise your voice, you don't have to become rude, you don't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/when-you-know-you-are-of-worth-you-don-t-have-to-raise-your-voice-you/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [As a protester, I protested because I had to, not because it was exciting. I don't want to get tear-gassed again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deray-mckesson/as-a-protester-i-protested-because-i-had-to-not-because-it-was/) [DeRay Mckesson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deray-mckesson/) > [I have a platform, and I can help. I can be in spaces that reporters will never be in because I'm a protester.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deray-mckesson/i-have-a-platform-and-i-can-help-i-can-be-in-spaces-that-reporters/) [DeRay Mckesson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deray-mckesson/) > [I was never charged with tax evasion. I've never been a tax protester.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesley-snipes/i-was-never-charged-with-tax-evasion-i-ve-never-been-a-tax-protester/) [Wesley Snipes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wesley-snipes/) > [I've always had questions about what it meant to be a protester, to be in the minority. Are the people who are trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-ve-always-had-questions-about-what-it-meant-to-be-a-protester-to-be/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [Well the protester I think is a very powerful thing. It's basically a mechanism of democracy that, along with capitalism, scientific innovation, those things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/well-the-protester-i-think-is-a-very-powerful-thing-it-s-basically-a/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Any protester knows that the only way activism works is to get the people on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-di-giovanni/any-protester-knows-that-the-only-way-activism-works-is-to-get-the/) [Janine di Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-di-giovanni/) > [For many people, tear gas is their first interaction with state violence. It's the first time they've been treated like an insect, usually by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeynep-tufekci/for-many-people-tear-gas-is-their-first-interaction-with-state/) [Zeynep Tufekci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeynep-tufekci/) > [ \[Christian rebellion\] arises from the doctrine of mankind made in the image of God, and therefore protests against all forms of dehumanization. It sets… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stott/christian-rebellion-arises-from-the-doctrine-of-mankind-made-in-the/) [John Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stott/) > [“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'm not going to say I was opposed to the Vietnam War. I'm going to say I'm opposed to war. But I'm also opposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/i-m-not-going-to-say-i-was-opposed-to-the-vietnam-war-i-m-going-to/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/never-be-afraid-to-raise-your-voice-for-honesty-and-truth-and/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) ## More by Friedrich Durrenmatt > [Rome has betrayed itself. It knew the truth and chose violence, it knew humaneness and it chose tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/rome-has-betrayed-itself-it-knew-the-truth-and-chose-violence-it-knew/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [A major power can afford a military debacle only when it looks like a political victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/a-major-power-can-afford-a-military-debacle-only-when-it-looks-like-a/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [“...he had read von Lambert's book on terrorism, there were two pages devoted to the Arab resistance movement, von Lambert refused to call them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/he-had-read-von-lambert-s-book-on-terrorism-there-were-two-pages/) [Friedrich Dürrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [People like us who are on their last leg can only understand comedies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/people-like-us-who-are-on-their-last-leg-can-only-understand-comedies/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [Before anything else, we need a new age of Enlightenment. Our present political systems must relinquish their claims on truth, justice and freedom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/before-anything-else-we-need-a-new-age-of-enlightenment-our-present/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [So then learn to conquer your fear. This is the only art we have to master nowadays: to look at things without fear, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/so-then-learn-to-conquer-your-fear-this-is-the-only-art-we-have-to/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [We are not cave dwellers anymore, we live in the age of technology. When someone needs a car, he does not need to build…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/we-are-not-cave-dwellers-anymore-we-live-in-the-age-of-technology/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [Every work of art depicts an aspect of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/every-work-of-art-depicts-an-aspect-of-reality/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [Justice is horrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/justice-is-horrible/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [Then the American flag was saluted. In general, in the United States people always salute the American flag.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/then-the-american-flag-was-saluted-in-general-in-the-united-states/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [Communism is a proposition to structure the world more reasonably, a proposition for changing the world. As such, we have to analyze it and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/communism-is-a-proposition-to-structure-the-world-more-reasonably-a/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [The content of physics is the concern of physicists, its effect the concern of all men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/the-content-of-physics-is-the-concern-of-physicists-its-effect-the/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [This inhuman world has to become more humane. But how?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/this-inhuman-world-has-to-become-more-humane-but-how/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [Humans need justice in the here and now and grace in the thereafter. Justice in the here and now is possible only without freedom,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/humans-need-justice-in-the-here-and-now-and-grace-in-the-thereafter/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) > [The only remedy against hunger is reasonable birth control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/the-only-remedy-against-hunger-is-reasonable-birth-control/) [Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) [Explore all 95 Friedrich Durrenmatt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/) ## More Individual quotes > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The strains and stresses suffered by the individual in society are grounded in the normal functioning of that society (and of the individual!) rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-strains-and-stresses-suffered-by-the-individual-in-society-are/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) > [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/) T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings > [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. Heritage Foundation political scientist Robert Rector has worked up figures showing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/in-comparative-terms-there-s-no-poverty-in-america-by-a-long-shot/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Nations, like individuals, interest us in their growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/nations-like-individuals-interest-us-in-their-growth/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. But those individuals \[ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar \] were… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos/sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of-us-but-those-individuals/) [John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos/) > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [The State must act as the guardian of a millennial future in the face of which the wishes and the selfishness of the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-state-must-act-as-the-guardian-of-a-millennial-future-in-the-face/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-it-comes-to-a-question-of-law-the-charges-they-brought-against-me/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Youre always going to have some individual incidents that arent going to show off the Ryder Cup in the true form and spirit that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-kite/youre-always-going-to-have-some-individual-incidents-that-arent-going/) [Tom Kite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-kite/) > [ The self is defined psychologically as the psychic totality of the individual. Anything that a \[person\] postulates as being a greater totality than \[oneself\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-self-is-defined-psychologically-as-the-psychic-totality-of-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 10,654 Individual quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The individual protests against the world, but he doesn't get beyond protest, he is just a single protester. When he wants to be more than that, he has to counter power with power, he has to oppose the system with another system.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Durrenmatt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/the-individual-protests-against-the-world-but-he-doesn-t-get-beyond/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Individual" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/the-individual-protests-against-the-world-but-he-doesn-t-get-beyond/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/friedrich-d-rrenmatt-4497_individual_the-individual-protests-against-the-worl_2690467.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/friedrich-d-rrenmatt-4497_individual_the-individual-protests-against-the-worl_2690467.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/friedrich-d-rrenmatt-4497_individual_the-individual-protests-against-the-worl_2690467.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The individual protests against the world, but he doesn't get beyond protest, he is just a single protester…” — Friedrich Durrenmatt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Friedrich Durrenmatt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The individual protests against the world,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/the-individual-protests-against-the-world-but-he-doesn-t-get-beyond/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/the-individual-protests-against-the-world-but-he-doesn-t-get-beyond/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```