--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm not for real revolutions, because…" description: "\"I'm not for real revolutions, because they always bring you the opposite of what you want. You very seldom get what you want if you have a violent revo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/gore-vidal-466_ifs_i-m-not-for-real-revolutions-because-the_2396627.jpg" --- # I'm not for real revolutions, because they always bring… ![“I'm not for real revolutions, because they always bring you the opposite of what you want. You very seldom get what you want if you have a violent revolution.” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/gore-vidal-466_ifs_i-m-not-for-real-revolutions-because-the_2396627.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/gore-vidal-466_ifs_i-m-not-for-real-revolutions-because-the_2396627.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6c/gore-vidal-466_ifs_i-m-not-for-real-revolutions-because-the_2396627.jpg) > “I'm not for real revolutions, because they always bring you the opposite of what you want. You very seldom get what you want if you have a violent revolution.” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Violent revolutions often produce outcomes opposite to the revolutionaries' goals, leading to disappointment. **In simple terms:** Revolutions can backfire, giving opposite results. Key Takeaway Beware of violent change; seek peaceful reform. Themes politics revolution unintended consequences Mood cautious reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - policy reform - social movements Key Concepts power dynamics historical cycles Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives to violence could achieve similar goals? - How can we anticipate unintended outcomes? A Different Perspective Violent upheaval can cause collateral damage and instability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Revolutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-revolutions-546079/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Revolutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutions/) [Revolutions Bring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutions-bring-5987810/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) [Violent revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent-revolution/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-violent-3430989/) [What you want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-you-want/) ## Related quotes > [We do not believe that the Marxist program, which embodies the continuity of the experience of the actual class struggle and real revolutions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-mandel/we-do-not-believe-that-the-marxist-program-which-embodies-the/) [Ernest Mandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-mandel/) > [I want to show in a violent sport like our sport, you don't need to hurt anybody in order to win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demian-maia/i-want-to-show-in-a-violent-sport-like-our-sport-you-don-t-need-to/) [Demian Maia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demian-maia/) > [Most of the trades, professions, and ways of living among mankind, take their original either from the love of the pleasure, or the fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/most-of-the-trades-professions-and-ways-of-living-among-mankind-take/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Violent revolutions usually only mean a change of personnel at the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petra-kelly/violent-revolutions-usually-only-mean-a-change-of-personnel-at-the-top/) [Petra Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petra-kelly/) > [The most violent revolutions in an individuals beliefs leave most of his old order standing. Time and space, cause and effect, nature and history,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-violent-revolutions-in-an-individuals-beliefs-leave-most-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Violent revolution fails because it is not revolutionary enough. It changes the rulers but not the rules, the ends but not the means. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-wink/violent-revolution-fails-because-it-is-not-revolutionary-enough-it/) [Walter Wink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-wink/) > [We decry violence all the time in this country, but look at our history. We were born in a violent revolution, and we've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/we-decry-violence-all-the-time-in-this-country-but-look-at-our/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [A non-violent revolution is not a program of seizure of power. It is a program of transformation of relationships, ending in a peaceful transfer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-non-violent-revolution-is-not-a-program-of-seizure-of-power-it-is-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [President Kennedy said that those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable. I would say that the converse is true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novogratz/president-kennedy-said-that-those-who-make-peaceful-revolution/) [Jacqueline Novogratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novogratz/) > [The suppression of the bourgeois state by the proletarian state is impossible without violent revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-suppression-of-the-bourgeois-state-by-the-proletarian-state-is/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [ “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." \[ Remarks on the first anniversary of the Alliance for Progress , 13 March 1962\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/those-who-make-peaceful-revolution-impossible-will-make-violent/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [“Violent revolution fails because it is not revolutionary enough. It changes the rulers but not the rules, the ends but not the means.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-wink/violent-revolution-fails-because-it-is-not-revolutionary-enough-it-2/) [Walter Wink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-wink/) > [“I am not in all cases and under all circumstances against a violent revolution. I believe with some medieval and Renaissance Christian thinkers who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/i-am-not-in-all-cases-and-under-all-circumstances-against-a-violent/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [I have always loved the Mao cap, though I hate violent revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-westwood/i-have-always-loved-the-mao-cap-though-i-hate-violent-revolution/) [Vivienne Westwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-westwood/) > [“Because Islam is so tightly bound up with Acehnese exceptionalism, it has since the introduction of Islamic law become the territory’s version of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/because-islam-is-so-tightly-bound-up-with-acehnese-exceptionalism-it/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/style-is-knowing-who-you-are-what-you-want-to-say-and-not-giving-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-oligarchs-think-that-the-people-are-both-dangerous-and-stupid/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/sex-is-a-continuum-you-go-through-different-phases-along-life-s-way/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“One of the problems of a society as tightly controlled as ours is that we get so little information about what those of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/one-of-the-problems-of-a-society-as-tightly-controlled-as-ours-is/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) [Explore all 539 Gore Vidal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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